SPX
Diversified American industrial company providing engineered equipment, infrastructure technologies, and specialized solutions.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
SPX Technologies, Inc. is a publicly traded American industrial company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops and supplies specialized equipment, systems, and technologies for infrastructure, energy, industrial, commercial, and public-sector applications. Its principal activities are organized around four broad markets: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; detection and measurement; power transmission and generation; and engineered solutions. SPX’s HVAC activities include cooling towers, boilers, heat exchangers, air-quality systems, industrial refrigeration equipment, and related service and aftermarket offerings. Its detection and measurement operations include underground utility locating, pipeline inspection, ground-penetrating radar, and related instruments. The company’s power-oriented portfolio includes transformers, power-delivery equipment, and other technologies used in electricity generation and transmission. Engineered-solutions activities address specialized industrial and infrastructure requirements rather than mass-market consumer demand. The company began in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1911 as the Piston Ring Company, producing piston rings for engine manufacturers. It expanded through acquisitions and changed its name to Sealed Power Corporation in the early 1930s. During the 1980s, acquisitions such as Kent-Moore, Owatonna Tool, and the V. L. Churchill Group broadened its product range and international reach. The company adopted the SPX Corporation name in 1988, and later acquisitions transformed it from an automotive-components business into a diversified industrial group. The purchase of General Signal in 1998 added process-control, electrical-control, and industrial technologies, while the 2001 acquisition of United Dominion Industries further expanded its engineered-products portfolio. SPX moved its headquarters to Charlotte in 2002. It subsequently reshaped its portfolio through divestitures, including the sale of its Service Solutions business to Robert Bosch in 2012 and the 2015 separation of SPX Flow as an independent company. After the SPX Flow separation, SPX concentrated on selected industrial technologies, especially HVAC, utility and infrastructure detection, power equipment, and specialized engineered products. Acquisitions of CUES, Schonstedt, Carmanah, SGS Refrigeration, Patterson-Kelley, ULC Robotics, and Sensors & Software added pipeline inspection, locating, warning-light, refrigeration, boiler, robotics, and ground-penetrating-radar capabilities. SPX sells through direct and indirect channels and operates in multiple countries, with sales reaching a substantially broader international market. Its brands have included Waukesha, Dielectric, Genfare, Fahrenheat, Radiodetection, Pearpoint, CUES, Patterson-Kelley, and other specialist businesses. The portfolio is characterized by technically demanding products, long service lives, regulatory or safety requirements, and customer relationships tied to infrastructure and industrial processes. In February 2024, SPX expanded its HVAC platform through the acquisition of Ingenia Technologies, a Canadian producer of custom commercial indoor-air-quality systems. The transaction reinforced the company’s strategy of building focused industrial platforms through complementary acquisitions.
History
SPX Technologies traces its origins to December 20, 1911, when Charles E. Johnson and Paul R. Beardsley established the Piston Ring Company in Muskegon, Michigan. The original business manufactured piston rings for engine builders. In 1925, it acquired the No-Leak-O Piston Ring Company, increasing its production capacity. The acquisition of Accuralite in 1931 was followed by a name change to Sealed Power Corporation and an expansion into pistons and cylinder sleeves, including components used in military applications. The company developed a broader distribution and manufacturing footprint after the Second World War. It opened a plant outside Muskegon in 1946 and established a replacement-parts distribution center in LaGrange, Indiana, in 1957. The center served a network of distribution outlets in the United States and Canada. During the 1980s, Sealed Power moved beyond its original automotive-component focus. It acquired Kent-Moore Corporation in 1982, Owatonna Tool Company in 1985, and the V. L. Churchill Group of Daventry, England, in the same year. These transactions added vehicle-service tools and provided the company with a stronger international presence. In 1988, the company adopted the name SPX Corporation. For roughly the next decade it remained substantially associated with automotive components and service equipment, but a major strategic change came in 1998 with the acquisition of General Signal Corporation. General Signal brought process-control, electrical-control, and industrial-technology businesses into SPX. The acquisition of United Dominion Industries in 2001 added further engineered-product operations. SPX moved its headquarters from Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2002, reflecting its evolution into a diversified industrial group. Portfolio management became increasingly important in the following decade. In 2012, SPX sold its Service Solutions business to Robert Bosch GmbH for approximately $1.15 billion. In 2015, it separated its flow-processing activities into SPX Flow, a separately traded company serving process industries such as food and beverage, power, energy, and industrial manufacturing. The separation left SPX with a more focused collection of industrial businesses rather than the full former flow portfolio. After the SPX Flow separation, SPX used acquisitions to build platforms in infrastructure detection, HVAC, power, and specialized engineered equipment. It acquired CUES, a pipeline-inspection manufacturer, and Schonstedt Instrument Company in 2018. It expanded its warning-light activities through Carmanah Technologies and added refrigeration and boiler capabilities through SGS Refrigeration and Patterson-Kelley in 2019. In 2020, the company acquired ULC Robotics, adding robotic inspection technology for natural-gas networks, and Sensors & Software, adding ground-penetrating radar to its Radiodetection business. SPX continued to emphasize HVAC and infrastructure technologies in the 2020s. In February 2024, it acquired Ingenia Technologies of Canada for $300 million. Ingenia designs and manufactures custom commercial air-quality systems, giving SPX additional capabilities in indoor environmental quality. The modern SPX portfolio therefore represents the cumulative result of more than a century of manufacturing experience, extensive acquisition activity, selected divestitures, and a continuing effort to concentrate on specialized industrial markets with technical barriers and recurring infrastructure demand.
- 2024
Ingenia Technologies acquired
[4]SPX acquired the Canadian commercial air-quality-system manufacturer for $300 million.
- 2015
SPX Flow is spun off
[1]The flow-processing business became the independent company SPX Flow.
- 2002
Headquarters move to Charlotte
[1]SPX relocated its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 2001
United Dominion Industries acquired
[1]The acquisition expanded SPX’s engineered-products portfolio.
- 1998
General Signal acquired
[1]The $2.3 billion acquisition added process-control, electrical-control, and industrial-technology businesses.
- 1988
SPX Corporation name adopted
[1]The company adopted the SPX Corporation name during its expansion beyond its original piston-ring business.
- 1931
Name changes to Sealed Power Corporation
[1]After acquiring Accuralite, the company changed its name and broadened its engine-component production.
- 1911
Piston Ring Company is founded
[1]Charles E. Johnson and Paul R. Beardsley founded the original piston-ring manufacturer in Muskegon, Michigan, on December 20.
Products and positioning
A diversified industrial technology provider focused on engineered equipment and infrastructure solutions where reliability, measurement, energy efficiency, safety, and specialized technical performance are important purchasing criteria.
HVAC and cooling
SPX Cooling Technologies
SPX Cooling Technologies supplies industrial and commercial cooling towers, evaporative cooling equipment, and related systems. These products are used to reject heat from power-generation, process, manufacturing, and building systems. The business is associated with brands and technologies serving both new installations and replacement or aftermarket requirements.
Detection and measurement
Radiodetection
Radiodetection provides equipment for locating underground pipes and cables, tracing utilities, and supporting infrastructure maintenance. Its portfolio includes locating instruments, transmitters, inspection technologies, and related accessories. The business serves utility operators, contractors, municipalities, telecommunications companies, and other users that need to reduce excavation and network-damage risks.
Pipeline inspection
CUES
CUES develops pipeline and sewer inspection equipment, including camera-based systems and related technologies used to assess underground infrastructure. Its products support condition assessment, maintenance planning, rehabilitation, and municipal or utility asset management.
Commercial heating
Patterson-Kelley
Patterson-Kelley manufactures commercial boilers and hydronic heating equipment for institutional, commercial, and industrial facilities. Its products form part of SPX’s HVAC solutions platform and are used in building-heating and hot-water applications.
Indoor air quality
Ingenia Technologies
Ingenia Technologies designs and manufactures custom commercial air-quality systems. The business was acquired by SPX in 2024 and complements SPX’s HVAC portfolio by addressing indoor environmental quality and customized air-treatment requirements.
Power transmission and generation
Waukesha and Dielectric
SPX’s power-related brands provide equipment and systems used in electrical transmission, distribution, and generation applications. The portfolio includes transformer and related power technologies serving utilities and industrial customers.
Ground-penetrating radar
Sensors & Software
Sensors & Software produces ground-penetrating-radar equipment used for geotechnical and geological investigations, underground-utility locating, and other subsurface detection work. SPX acquired the Ontario-based business in 2020 and aligned it with Radiodetection.
Brand decisions
2024
Acquisition of Ingenia TechnologiesM&ABackground
SPX sought to expand its HVAC platform into customized commercial air-quality systems.
Action taken
SPX acquired Ingenia Technologies, a Canadian manufacturer headquartered in Mirabel, Quebec.
Aftermath
The acquisition added commercial indoor-air-quality capabilities to SPX’s HVAC solutions business.
Purchase price. $300 million (February 2024)
2015
Separation of SPX FlowStrategyBackground
SPX held a substantial flow-processing business serving process industries and energy-related customers.
Action taken
SPX separated the flow business into SPX Flow as an independent company.
Aftermath
SPX became more focused on HVAC, detection and measurement, power, and other engineered industrial businesses. SPX Flow was later acquired by Lone Star Funds in 2022 for approximately $3.8 billion.
2012
Divestiture of Service SolutionsM&ABackground
SPX was reshaping its portfolio while reducing its concentration in automotive service tools and related businesses.
Action taken
The company sold Service Solutions to Robert Bosch GmbH for approximately $1.15 billion.
Aftermath
The transaction supported SPX’s movement toward diversified industrial technologies.
Transaction value. $1.15 billion (2012)
Recent events
Prolec GE completes acquisition of SPX Transformer Solutions business[5]
Prolec GE announced that it completed the acquisition of SPX Corporation’s SPX Transformer Solutions business. The stated contract purchase price was $645 million, subject to adjustments.
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