Generac Holdings Inc. plans to acquire Toronto-based smart thermostat maker
ecobee in a deal valued at up to $770 million.
Generac will pay $200 million in cash and plus $450 million of its common stock to the current equity holders of ecobee when the deal closes. The sellers could receive an additional $120 million in Generac stock if the company hits certain performance targets between closing and June 30, 2023.
ecobee was founded in 2007 and has more than 500 employees globally. The company offers a line of smart thermostats and other home monitoring products.
Aaron Jagdfeld, president and chief executive officer of Generac, said ecobee’s offerings are an important addition to Generac’s residential energy technology portfolio.
"Residential HVAC systems represent the largest energy-consuming device in the home today and ecobee's smart thermostats and sensors offer the most intelligent way to balance comfort with conservation,” Jagdfeld said. “In addition, the ability to combine ecobee's cutting-edge technologies with Generac's power generation, energy storage and energy management devices will allow us to create a clean, efficient, and reliable home energy ecosystem that will not only save homeowners money, but also help grid operators meet the challenges of an electrical grid under enormous stress by providing solutions to better balance supply and demand."
Stuart Lombard, founder and CEO of ecobee, said together two companies would be able to “deliver a cleaner, more resilient and sustainable energy future for our customers and communities."
"Generac's evolution into an energy technology solutions company creates many opportunities to integrate our ecobee products with their residential device offerings, enabling direct monitoring and control of a significant portion of the home's electrical load," Lombard said.
The two companies expect to close the transaction during the fourth quarter.
