Eaton exits cars and buys a 106-year-old Italian switchgear maker for €810 million
An October 16 filing recasts the vehicle business Eaton is spinning off; a September 25 deal for Italy's COL Group shows what it buys instead. Both land in Q1 2027, chasing grid and data-center demand that mostly converts from 2028.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Oaktree leaves a century-old Italian maker, and Eaton walks in
On September 25, Eaton−3.35% — Eaton, down 3.35 percent today, the Dublin-based power-management company, agreed to buy COL Group from Oaktree's Power Opportunities fund for an enterprise value, the price including assumed debt, of €810 million, about $919 million 12. COL makes medium-voltage switchgear and grid automation, the equipment that routes power across utility networks and into sites 1. Oaktree, the Los Angeles investment firm that bought COL in 2021, is selling after five years 2.
COL was founded in 1920, employs about 400 people at plants in Turin, Milan, Bergamo and Catania, and is forecast to sell €250 million in 2027 12. Omar Zaire, president of Eaton's Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said the deal strengthens "integrated grid-to-chip power solutions" for utility and data-center customers 1.
Selling the falling tail roughly pays for the entrance
A filing on October 16 recast Eaton's 2025 accounts to show the vehicle business it is shedding, Mobility, as one segment: $3.11 billion of sales last year, down from $3.45 billion in 2024 and $3.60 billion in 2023 34. Mobility merges with US drivetrain maker Dana by the end of the first quarter of 2027, handing Eaton about $1.1 billion in cash 35.
Mobility sales have fallen three straight years
Data
| Mobility net sales | |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $3.6B |
| 2024 | $3.45B |
| 2025 | $3.11B |
COL closes the same quarter, subject to regulatory approval, so the car exit roughly funds the Italian entrance 1. The buy-versus-build question comes with it: Eaton finished a 5,000 square metre automated breaker expansion at Schrems, Austria, in under ten months 6, and is paying about 3.2 times forecast sales for COL's four Italian plants 12.
The demand is real, and most of it is dated 2028
Second-quarter sales were $8.53 billion, up 21%, of which 14 points were organic, meaning without acquisitions, and Eaton raised full-year organic growth guidance to 11–13% 5. Electrical Global, the segment COL joins, grew 44%, though only 18 points of that were organic; the rest arrived with the $9.55 billion Boyd liquid-cooling acquisition closed in March 57.
Electrical Global's backlog rose 103% year over year, against 43% for the electrical businesses as a whole, and data-center orders rose about 85% 5. Management put US data-center backlog at 307 gigawatts, 15 years of building at 2025 rates, with most converting from 2028 5.
Revenue growth has more than quadrupled from its late-2024 low
Data
| Revenue growth, % YoY | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '24 | 8.4% |
| Q2 '24 | 8.3% |
| Q3 '24 | 7.9% |
| Q4 '24 | 4.6% |
| Q1 '25 | 7.3% |
| Q2 '25 | 10.7% |
| Q3 '25 | 10.1% |
| Q4 '25 | 13.1% |
| Q1 '26 | 16.8% |
| Q2 '26 | 21.4% |
Q2 growth sat in electrical; the unit being spun off was flat
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Electrical Global | 44% |
| Electrical Americas | 18% |
| Aerospace | 13% |
| Mobility (flat) | 0% |
The incumbents are growing too, and the multiple assumes delivery
Schneider Electric, France's electrical incumbent, just printed 16.9% organic growth on €11.46 billion of quarterly sales, with data-center demand more than doubling, and raised its 2026 outlook 8. Eaton arrives in that home market as a challenger carrying 40.6 times trailing earnings on a $154.9 billion market value 9.
The division is the point: €810 million over €250 million of COL's forecast 2027 sales is about 3.2 times revenue, while the $9.55 billion Boyd liquid-cooling deal cost about 5.3 times its expected $1.8 billion of annual revenue 15. Eaton also holds $18.5 billion of long-term debt after Boyd and paid $201 million of quarterly interest, nearly triple a year earlier 5. The demand COL is bought against converts mostly from 2028 and later 5.
The next reading lands on November 3
Eaton reports third-quarter results before the open on November 3, with consensus at $3.54 a share 9. The tells: whether Electrical Global holds its organic pace, and whether regulators clear COL in the same quarter the Mobility spin completes 13. Eaton is betting it can buy European share faster than Schneider, Siemens and ABB, Europe's electrical incumbents, can defend it.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
