Global supplier of condensate removal pumps, the Sauermann Group, has acquired KGF Group, a French family-owned business made-up of three operational companies - KIMO Instruments, Taulou and Katrem.
Kimo is a well known manufacturer of fixed and portable measuring instruments for various fields such as HVAC, food and clean rooms with products ranging from transmitters and sensors to data loggers, hygrometers, air flow meters, anemometers and micro anemometers.
Sauermann Group CEO, Serge Bohyn, said the acquisition is a pivotal moment in the company's history.
"They are, like us, part of the exciting HVACR industry and active in designing, manufacturing and selling instruments aimed at measuring and controlling indoor air quality," he said.
"The Sauermann Group and KGF Group are extraordinarily complementary. We fit together perfectly. Our geographic structures fit. As do our organization charts. And from an R&D perspective, thrilling new products are sure to follow."
Sauermann, which provides a variety of piston, centrifugal, peristaltic and membrane pumps, has been supplying products to the Australian market for over 15 years.
"Starting in 2004, we began setting steep objectives and have strengthened our presence in all four segments of the HVACR sector and we are determined to go further," Bohyn said.
"We welcome some 300 new colleagues to the group and enter new markets with new product ranges in the business of indoor air quality, which is our passion.
"We are convinced that, with this acquisition, the synergies we are to achieve in the field of operations, sales, R&D and logistics will provide further value to customers."
Locally, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Australia is expected to rise for the next two years peaking in 2018, according to Oxford Economics.
Law firm Baker & McKenzie commissioned Oxford Economics to assess the global deal landscape including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs) through until the end of 2020.
The report uses modelling techniques relating to historic changes in transaction flows and draws on structural and cyclical transaction drivers including national income growth, equity prices and interest rates.
Forecasts in the report have Australia's M&A annual completed deal value, including domestic and inbound transactions, edging up to $US74.1 billion ($96.1 billion) in 2015 from $US73.7 billion a year earlier.
Activity is estimated to peak at $US126.3 billion in 2018, before slowing over the next two years.