Honeywell to Sell Productivity Business in $1.4 Billion Deal

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2:24business in a$1.4 billion deal. To break that down for us, Leanna Baker from Bloomberg News joins us here. And I talked to us about Honeywell here because I'm looking at this stock's off just a couple, you know, about a buck and a half here today, but it's up 19 % year to date. What's Honeywell doing with this transaction? Honeywell has been for years now trying to, you know, reshape its portfolio. They've never met a spinoff they don't like. They're spinning off their aerospace division. They've already spun off their chemicals unit. That's a whole separate company called Solstice. So they love doing deals.

3:01They also do acquire things. But in this one, it's been a long simmering situation. They announced last July that they were exploring options for this unit along with another unit that they haven't sold yet. And we had been tracking this one for months. We thought private equity would come in, but ultimately Brady Corporation, another public company based in Milwaukee is swooping in for this, and it's going to make it a much larger company.

3:27Scarlet Fu:And it's not just Honeywell either. 3M has looked into selling assets too. What is it about these big industrials that at one point like to be big, like to be diversified, are now in love with the idea of slimming down, realigning their portfolios, divesting assets? What happened in the thinking? We're seeing it across industries, not just in the industrial space. For whatever reason, every few years, diversification becomes popular with investors. And we see, you know, GE buying NBC and those types of things to look back at history. And then eventually we get into spinoffs, which are now investor friendly.

4:04And it doesn't take much to, you know, boost your stock. If you say you're going to sell units or spinoff into public companies, some public companies are now have turned into a dozen companies. It's quite amazing to watch. So it looks like I'm just going to have the PGEO function on the Bloomberg Terminal Honeywells down to kind of four lines of business, aerospace, technologies, building automation, industrial automation, and energy and sustainability. Are they comfortable with their portfolio, generally speaking, now? Or do you think we'll get more deals here? I wouldn't rule them out for doing more M &A to actually, you know, as they reshape their portfolio, think what makes sense.

4:40We've definitely seen industrial companies get more into software. I know software has kind of fallen out of favor right now, but there's definitely these sort of big hardware software products that might be hard to disintermediate with AI, so that's one area to look. They've also invested in quantum computing. Quantinium, a company that Honeywell owns, they've been trying to take that one public. That's another one to watch, but we'll see under their CEO, Vimal Kapoor, they've definitely been making a lot of moves to just reimagine what Honeywell is. And what about Brady?

5:16Scarlet Fu:Is Brady looking to get bigger? I mean, it's buying this business from Honeywell, but can we expect more dealmaking from Brady? They'll definitely get bigger. Before this deal, they had about a$3.9 billion market cap, and they're paying$1.4 billion cash. So this is by far the largest deal ever for Brady, a Midwest company founded in 1914. They make some of these products already. So this will help them maybe corner the market in this sort of industrial barcode, logistics scanning type stuff. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. For years, the conversation around Bitcoin was the same.

5:55Is it real? And does it belong in a portfolio? While others debated, CoinShares got to work. In 2015, they launched the world's first Bitcoin EDP, regulated, listed, and built for institutional investors. Long before the U.S. market caught up, Today, they manage over$6 billion in assets and have remained profitable through every market cycle, including the 2022 downturn. What sets them apart? They're not a crypto exchange chasing trading fees, not a company betting its balance sheet on Bitcoin, not a mining operation. Coinshares is an asset manager with recurring fees, a fixed cost base, and a business model you can actually model.

6:31Now listed on NASDAQ under ticker CSHR. Learn more at coinsharesipo.com.

7:06Scarlet Fu:Thank you. action? Do that with Acrobat. Want to stop searching for files and finally get everyone on the same page? Do that, do that, do that with Acrobat. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat. Support for the show comes from Public. Lately, it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth. On Public, you can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti.

7:49Retirement accounts? Yep. High yield cash? Yes again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools, and customer support that actually helps. Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. Ad paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor. Crypto services by ZeroHash. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast.

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8:39Scarlet Fu:Speaking of AI, when every industry is navigating rapid change driven by this technology, one company is focused on helping them unlock better performance through data collaboration. So I want to bring in now Scott Howe. He is CEO of LiveRamp. And Scott, before we get into exactly how your company does what it does, just explain what LiveRamp does. What's the mission behind LiveRamp? What problems are you trying to solve? Sure. You just talked about how fuel stocks are up today. And data is the fuel for the future in a technology world. What LiveRamp does is it makes data safe and easy for companies to use.

9:15We manage their integrations, their security, their permissions, and their acceptable uses through our data collaboration platform. So to what extent are retailers, brands embracing AI? Because it feels like we're super, super early innings here. And I think companies by and large across all industry types are trying to figure out what this thing is. Is it friend or foe? What are you finding? Yeah, well, I'll tell you, retailers are going to follow consumers and consumers are embracing AI. Search is being replaced by AI in terms of discovery. And if you've done any kind of AI-driven commerce where you're looking for products, you know it's just a transformational experience.

10:06So companies have to move. They have to stay current. And so for the next five years, AI is going to be probably the only thing retailers are talking about.

10:19Scarlet Fu:So when you talk to brands right now, how AI-ready are they? How do you assess their level of readiness? Well, I'd say it's early stages. But that said, we don't work with a company that isn't collecting information, creating a value exchange for consumers and doing things with that information to give their customers a better experience. Items that they might like, different value propositions, access to unique content. And so they're getting increasingly sophisticated about how to have the conversation with consumers. And, you know, every company in the world is looking at who the winners have been in the stock market for the last 20, 30 years.

11:08And the winners have been companies that are really sophisticated with data. And so, if you want to be a winner in the stock market, you have to be more sophisticated. So, I think consumers and the market forces, both of those things are driving adoption. What is data collaboration? Yeah, it's a great question because what companies have realized is they can't go it alone. It's really hard to out Amazon, Amazon. Amazon has so much information. But when a company like Nike gets together with its retailers or a company like Disney gets together with its advertisers and they start to collaborate on the data that they have, they can actually out Amazon, Amazon, out Google, Google, and create really interesting insights that drive better value to their customers.

12:06Scarlet Fu:That all sounds great, but how do they, I guess, maintain control, ensure privacy, and really have a handle over governance over their own data because they're collaborating with other partners and they're sharing this information. Yeah. So two words, LiveRamp. That's why we exist. Rather than a big company having to go secure hundreds, if not thousands, eventually of one-off business development agreements governing how data can be utilized. Instead, they can just use LiveRamp. We manage all those things for them. Any participant can set their permissions and their acceptable use so that they know that their partners are respecting their data.

12:53And ultimately, we think there's a big role for consumers to play in this long term as well. AI means that the power of data eventually swings to consumers. And as a consumer, I would want my data to be portable and I'd want it to be very transparent. If I go surf on, say, I watch programming on Netflix, shouldn't I be able to download my viewing history and use it next time I'm on Prime to get similar recommendations of shows that might matter to me? I know we're early in, Scott. How are consumers using AI in just kind of their shopping behavior now? And maybe how do you think that's going to evolve?

13:35Yeah, it is early. But I would say, you know, particularly amongst the younger generation, folks that are, you know, up to age 30, it is absolutely essential because you're using it to help you do the research on what products that you might want to buy, gather testimonials. testimonials. And increasingly, say, like through Google AI shopping, you can actually consummate a purchase within the AI browser that you're using.

14:09Scarlet Fu:I can understand brands and consumer brands in particular really embracing this. How are you seeing this show up among companies and industries that are also consumer facing, but maybe have not had to go out and chase consumers in quite the same way, healthcare companies, for instance? Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Probably the proudest moment I've had in one of our town halls is we had a company called Truth Social, that's the settlement of big tobacco, come in and speak to our folks a few years ago. And they talked about how they're using technology, how they're using data, how they're using LiveRamp.

14:46And the punchline was, it's saving lives. And they shared how many lives they think that they've saved by applying data, helping to market to young people about the dangers of tobacco and drugs. So I think data has such an important role to play in perhaps industries we don't even think about, because wherever we can bring information to bear to make a better decision, whether it be for a business or for a consumer, shouldn't we want to do that? Of course, but always within the control of those that are being affected by that decision. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.

15:46Scarlet Fu:collaborative workspace to streamline every file and comment. So if you need six departments to finally agree on a proposal, do that with Acrobat. Need to turn a mountain of feedback into one plan of action? Do that with Acrobat. Want to stop searching for files and finally get everyone on the same page? Do that, do that, do that with Acrobat. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat. Support for the show comes from Public. Public is an investing platform that offers access to stocks, options, bonds, and crypto. And they've also integrated AI with tools that can assist investors in building customized portfolios.

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18:02Scarlet Fu:See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more at Chase.com slash business. Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10 a.m. Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube. Oil prices have reversed Friday's declines.

18:42Scarlet Fu:They're marching higher with Brent now up about 5.7 percent. WTI gaining more than 6 percent, just below$89 a barrel here in the U.S. Mike McGlone is our senior commodity strategist joining us from Miami. So, Mike, I'm trying to understand these latest headlines from President Trump saying that he is not going to open up the Strait of Hormuz, even though Iran desperately wants him to do so. That presupposes that the U.S. is the one that's blocking the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is not playing a role. But I want to get from you a sense of what is actually moving oil prices right now these days. Is it an opening of the Strait of Hormuz?

19:24It definitely is, Scarlett. I think the market's getting past that a little bit and realizing it's a bit of a battle of the bulge. It'll figure it out. It'll be opening up to question how you do it. I think the ideal way Mr. Trump wanted was to repress the offensive abilities of Iran to close this strait, which they still have. But from a crude oil standpoint, the rest of the world is breaking and breaking hard. Pretty severe demand destruction. And the U.S. so far is OK. Now, right now, WTI is around $89 a barrel. I think that high at$120 isn't as during as that peak in 2020 at$130 was. And now it's probably stuck between$80 and$100 a barrel.

20:01And there's one key thing I reiterated today, wanted to point out, is if prices don't go down, that surplus of supply versus demand in the U.S. and Canada, which is running around 8 million barrels a day, it's going to go to 10 million barrels a day by 2028. So I look at this as this is a market, it's a bear market that's bounced much more likely to go down. And the key thing that might make it go down to that level by the end of the year is the stock market dropping a bit. So, Mike, when you talk to people, you know, traders that trade this commodity here, the oil and gas, are they factoring in supply coming from other parts of the world coming to the marketplace or maybe even Saudi crude or Mitty's crude finding other ways to get out to the marketplace?

20:47Yeah. So people keep using that narrative 20 percent of world supply from the Gulf. It's really probably dropping closer to 10 percent now as Saudi Arabia has found ways to get its pipelines through the red scene out in other ways. And they're finding other ways we'll get it. The key theme, I think, is people remember what happened in 2022 when crude oil popped to 130. And the thing that led us back down was natural gas. And that's done the same thing again this year. It was up 100%, and now it's down almost 20 % on the year. It's already done what I think crude oil is going to do, and it's seen what's really happening on a global basis.

21:21That price maker status has switched from the Gulf to the Western Hemisphere, led by the U.S. from Canada, Venezuela, all the way down to Argentina, and that's the key theme that's been pressuring prices forever, and that, I think, is what's accelerating. I think people are also realizing If natural gas is a guy and corn guy peaking, corn peaking and soybean peaking, this is, I think, just a dump that's ready to think, just a pump that's ready to dump. Again, it's and it's all these things predicated on that wealth effect continuing in the U.S.

21:54Scarlet Fu:OK, so there's U.S. net gas futures, which you highlighted, and then there's European gas futures, which have not fallen in quite the same way because they do depend on the Strait of Hormuz. How is that looking and how does that compare to what we saw in 2022? Scarlett's not nearly as high, but it's the demand destruction I'm worried about. Typically, these kind of things, as you're seeing, and not only is it psychological, makes people cut off their consumer spending, but it's actual physical now. Prices have pumped up so much, particularly in gas oil and diesel, in this country, diesel, but in the rest of the world, most notably in Asia, maybe not so much China, so much in Europe, that you can't help but not cut your capital budgeting decisions, certainly from a personal consumer standpoint.

22:38And that's the stuff that's not really coming out yet. And it's one key theme that Anna Wong pointed out in our morning meeting, our chief economist, is you're not seeing that top 20 percentile of wage earners yet because the stock market's still doing well. That's why, unfortunately, as a commodity guy, I look at the stock markets, everything now, most notably from things like industrial metals and even crude oil. It could push things lower.

22:56Scarlet Fu:Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. Everyone has been there. Your team's feedback is scattered across emails, chats, and sticky notes. It's a mess. But PDF Spaces and Adobe Acrobat gives you one collaborative workspace to streamline every file and comment. So, if you need six departments to finally agree on a proposal, do that with Acrobat. Need to turn a mountain of feedback into one plan of action? Do that with Acrobat. Want to stop searching for files and finally get everyone on the same page? Do that, do that, do that with Acrobat. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat.

23:38Support for the show comes from Public. Lately, it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth. On Public, you can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts? Yep. High-yield cash? Yes, again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools, and customer support that actually helps.

24:13Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. And paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing. Member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor, crypto services by ZeroHash. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures.