We have another theme for this week’s edition of News Bites, this time around recent merger and acquisition announcements. Why focus on these announcements you may ask? Because mergers and acquisitions are continuously reshaping the market - impacting business, product development and so much more.

There are many pros and cons to mergers and acquisitions.

Among the pros is the ability to combine complementary industry expertise, leading to the potential for new product and technological developments which can benefit the broader market.  

But it also often means the supplier base becomes smaller, limiting the number of options customers have to work with which can present challenges.

Either way, monitoring merger and acquisition activity can be beneficial as it offers insight into what other companies in your industry are doing, trends that may be influencing these activities as well as market conditions prompting them.

Continental Sells ContiTech to Investment Firm

Continental has sold its ContiTech group sector to investment firm Lone Star Funds, the final step in the company’s realignment plans. With the sale of ContiTech, Continental will now become a dedicated tire company.

The company began its realignment in late 2024 when it spun off its Automotive group sector. At the time, Continental noted the purpose of the realignment was to enable each of its group sectors to be better able to focus on their individual customer segments.

Lone Star Funds will now take over all of ContiTech’s business operations worldwide.

“ContiTech is a well-positioned industrial company with outstanding technological capabilities and extensive expertise in materials, making it one of the leading providers in its industries. We are convinced of ContiTech’s significant potential,” said Donald Quintin, chief executive officer of Lone Star Funds in the press release announcing the sale of ContiTech.

“As a global investor with a track record in the industrials sector, we look forward to working closely with the management team and employees around the world to further develop the business — through operational improvements and targeted investments in attractive growth markets.”

ContiTech sees continued opportunities for its business as well. Philip Nelles, Member of the Continental Executive Board and CEO of ContiTech, told me during an interview last year that fluid handling is an important application area for the company. As such, it is working to expand its offerings for this area due to the long-term growth potential the company sees.

To aid this growth, the company is making various investments in material development and production capacity; in late 2025 it opened a new hydraulic hose production facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico that will help meet growing demand ContiTech sees for hydraulic hoses in various applications.

Danfoss Enters Agreement to Acquire Alfagomma

Danfoss has entered into an exclusivity agreement to conclude the acquisition of Alfagomma. It is doing so as part of its efforts to accelerate growth within Danfoss Power Solutions’ Fluid Conveyance division.

It was noted during the company’s distributor meeting in 2024 that Danfoss sees growth potential for the Fluid Conveyance division because the hoses, fittings and other technologies it develops are used in such a wide array of applications — including construction and other mobile equipment, industrial machinery and even data centers.

Because of this, it is continuing to make investments in the division such as the acquisition of Alfagomma. The strengthening of its Fluid Conveyance division has been a multi-year process that first started with the acquisition of Eaton’s Hydraulics business. And at the end of 2025 Danfoss completed its acquisition of Hydro Holding which develops fittings and adapters, hose assemblies as well as formed steel tubing.

Headquartered in Italy, Alfagomma is a global manufacturer of hoses, fittings, couplings, and connectors. According to Danfoss, combining the businesses of Alfagomma and its Fluid Conveyance division will lead to the creation of a global leader in hydraulic and industrial hose manufacturing and distribution.

Both companies will operate independently throughout the process, and Danfoss intends to maintain Alfagomma’s existing footprint in Italy and invest in the business.

Dana Combining with Eaton’s Mobility Business

Powertrain developer Dana Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Eaton’s Mobility business.

Per Dana’s press release announcing the merger, the combination will integrate Dana's global powertrain, thermal, and sealing technologies with Eaton Mobility's commercial vehicle transmissions, engine and emissions products, and advanced electrification capabilities, creating a more comprehensive supplier serving commercial and light vehicle markets, as well as the associated aftermarket channels.

This merger comes months after Allision Transmission completed its acquisition of Dana’s Off-Highway business which helped Allison expand its offering of drivetrain and propulsion technologies for construction equipment, agricultural machinery and other off-highway applications.

In late 2024, Dana Inc. announced plans to sell its off-highway business as part of cost-reduction efforts the company was undertaking to better manage evolving market conditions. Earlier in the year it also sold its European hydraulics business as part of these cost-reduction efforts.

Slower uptake of electric vehicles, lower demand for off-highway equipment in recent years, and other market factors have all contributed to challenging market conditions for suppliers like Dana. For Dana, restructuring and selling its business units allows it to address these challenges and be more focused on those areas of its business where it feels its expertise can best be employed.

Dana sees the merger increasing its scale, capabilities as well as its ability to advance its traditional and electrification technology portfolios. The intention is for Dana to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton’s Mobility Group.

The mobility group was established in early 2026 when Eaton Corp. undertook its own restructuring; it spun off its Vehicle and eMobility business units to create the Mobility Group which is focused on developing technologies that create, distribute and optimize power for a variety of vehicles and propulsion systems.