Swedish measurement-technology group Hexagon AB completed its acquisition of Waygate Technologies from Baker Hughes Co., paying about $1.45 billion in cash for an inspection business that lets it sell into factory maintenance and repair work.
Both companies announced the closing on Monday. Hexagon paid an enterprise value of roughly $1.45 billion on a cash- and debt-free basis and funded it with cash and existing credit lines. Baker Hughes said it will receive about the same amount in pre-tax proceeds, before customary adjustments.
Margin work ahead
Waygate makes industrial radiography and computed tomography systems, remote visual inspection devices and ultrasonic testing gear used to find flaws in parts without destroying them. It employs about 1,500 people at 25 locations and generated about $630 million of revenue in 2025. The business will sit inside Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division, where the company plans to pair Waygate’s scanners with its own metrology hardware and CT-analysis software.
The deal comes with a near-term cost. Hexagon said that on a 2025 pro forma basis the acquisition dilutes the division’s margin by about 3 percentage points and the group’s by about 1.5 points. Its plan is to lift Waygate into the division’s target range of a 21% to 24% margin through local manufacturing, cross-selling and possible portfolio pruning. Hexagon expects about EUR50 million of transaction, separation and integration costs and puts its pro forma leverage at about 1.4 turns of net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Baker Hughes slims down
For Houston-based Baker Hughes, the sale continues a pruning of businesses outside its core energy and industrial technology lines. The company said the divestiture improves the durability of its earnings and cash flow. Waygate was consolidated into Hexagon’s results as of Nov. 1.
