Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

This Huge Deal's Logic Comes Through in CEOs' Words

If Emerson boosts its offer enough, Rockwell should listen.

November 8, 2017 at 5:48 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

1510165122_pic — Photographer: NASA via Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Rockwell Automation Inc. and Emerson Electric Co. are still at odds with each other over a potential merger, but they're speaking the same strategic language.

The two industrial companies reported earnings back-to-back this week. Rockwell Automation's recent rejection of Emerson's $27 billion takeover bid added an element of intrigue to what were otherwise rather uninspiring numbers from each of them. Should a deal happen, it would merge Emerson's strength in process automation (think controls for the energy industry) with Rockwell's leading discrete automation offerings (assembly-line technologies).