Johnson Matthey to buy US emissions control leader CORMETECH for $360M
What's the deal? London-based specialty chemicals company Johnson MattheyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has agreed to acquire CORMETECHDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Inc., the leading US manufacturer of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts, for $360 million in cash. An additional earn-out of up to $100 million may be paid in 2028 and 2029 if CORMETECH hits certain financial targets.
CORMETECH makes emissions control catalysts for stationary power generation and industrial applications. The deal values the company at 10.3x its expected 2026 EBITDA.
Johnson Matthey chief executive officer Liam Condon called CORMETECH "a business we have long admired" for its market position and diverse customer base. The transaction is expected to close by the end of June or in July 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Why now? The rapid construction of data centres across the US is driving a structural surge in power generation demand — and with it, demand for the emissions control catalysts CORMETECH produces. The company's roughly $300 million order book and $1 billion project pipeline reflect that momentum.
The deal also fits Johnson Matthey's broader strategic pivot. It is selling its Catalyst Technologies business to HoneywellDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and plans to return £1 billion of those net proceeds to shareholders. Acquiring CORMETECH sharpens the company's focus on its Clean Air Solutions division while adding scale in a total addressable market worth over $1 billion that it expects to grow at double-digit rates.
What could go wrong? The acquisition multiple is steep, and the earn-out could push the total price to $460 million. Johnson Matthey expects to operate at roughly 1.8x leverage after the deal, above its 1.0–1.5x target range — though it says strong cash generation should bring that down by March 2029.
Achieving the projected $20 million in annualised run-rate synergies by 2030 — roughly 60% of CORMETECH's expected 2026 EBITDA — will require disciplined execution. About 70% of those synergies are revenue-based, which tend to be harder to capture than cost cuts.
The signal: This acquisition illustrates how data centre-driven power demand is creating ripple effects well beyond the tech sector, turning mature industrial catalyst makers into high-growth targets. Johnson Matthey — a FTSE 100 firm already pivoting its portfolio by offloading its Catalyst Technologies unit to Honeywell — is betting that tightening emissions rules and surging energy buildout will sustain double-digit growth in US$647.1M-plus addressable market. The 10.3x EBITDA multiple and potential $460 million total price tag signal that competition for infrastructure-adjacent clean air assets is intensifying.
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