Eaton buys Italy's COL Group for €810 million, about 3.2 times its 2027 sales forecast

Eaton has agreed to buy COL Group, an Italian maker of medium-voltage power distribution equipment, from Oaktree's Power Opportunities fund for an enterprise value of €810 million. The company announced the deal on Friday and said it expects to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. Reuters and MarketWatch also reported the deal, with MarketWatch putting the value at about $923 million.

COL makes switchgear, including versions that do not use SF₆ gas, plus grid automation gear and modular power systems. It has about 400 employees and plants in Turin, Milan, Bergamo and Catania. Eaton said the purchase adds European manufacturing capacity for data center and utility customers.

The price, measured against Eaton itself

Eaton disclosed one number that lets you judge the price: COL is forecasting €250 million of sales in 2027. That puts the deal at about 3.2 times next year's expected revenue.

By that rough yardstick, Eaton is buying capacity at about half the multiple investors pay for Eaton's own sales. The comparison is imperfect: Eaton's figure uses market value rather than enterprise value, and a forward forecast rather than a past year. But the gap is wide enough to explain why a buyer would rather acquire factories than wait years to build them while, in Eaton's words, data center and utility demand keeps growing.

In scale, the deal is small for Eaton. At Friday's exchange rate of about $1.139 per euro, €810 million is roughly $922 million, around half of 1% of Eaton's market value. COL's forecast sales would add about 1% to Eaton's 2025 revenue.

How the stock took it

Eaton shares were at $438.91 shortly before noon, down 0.25%, according to Nasdaq data. That is below the 52-week high of $478. A deal this size was never going to move a $170 billion company much on its own.

The purchase also comes while Eaton is carving out its Mobility business for a planned merger with Dana, which the company listed among the risks in Friday's release.

Who it matters to

• European data center builders and utilities gain a bigger supplier with more local plants, adding production capacity in Italy for medium-voltage gear.
• Eaton shareholders are getting a small, bolt-on deal priced below the company's own multiple, rather than a large bet.
• Other owners of electrical equipment makers, including private equity funds like the seller, now have a fresh price marker for European medium-voltage assets.

Sources: Eaton press release (Business Wire); Reuters; MarketWatch; Nasdaq market data. Sales multiples, dollar conversion and scale comparisons are Chronicle calculations. This is market information, not investment advice.