Siemens Smart Infrastructure Targets Acquisitions To Speed Growth

Siemens is considering acquisitions in building management software and electric vehicle charging to accelerate growth at its Smart Infrastructure (SI) division, managing board member Matthias Rebellius told news sources.

The German company wants to expand its offering and grow faster than rivals as office blocks and apartments become more connected and drivers switch to e-vehicles, Rebellius said.

“Smart building software is becoming more important with the higher integration needed to manage, operate and maintain buildings,” said Rebellius, who is also chief executive of SI.

“We already have a huge software base and many software developers. We can expand it by investing in start-ups or making acquisitions,” he said.

The e-mobility business is “definitely” another area Siemens was interested in, the 56-year-old said, citing annual industry growth rates of 30% for electric vehicles.

Siemens has been investing recently in markets adjacent to its traditional customer’s base, with the aim of expanding its customer base by 120 billion euros per year.

The Munich company has spent 550 million euros this year on a software acquisition for its mobility business as well as $700 million on electrical component supplier Supplyframe.

Rebellius declined to give a price range for future deals at SI, saying Siemens didn’t have a budget for acquisitions.

“It’s less a question of how much you are prepared to pay, and more about … what growth can we create and how much value can we add,” he said.

The SI division is based in Zug, Switzerland and employs 70,000 people globally and reported sales of 14.3 billion euros in 2020, a quarter of parent Siemens’s total.