The Swiss ABB Group has acquired a pioneer of the Matter smart home standard: Eve Systems, one of the few manufacturers that can currently already supply Matter products, is now part of the globally operating conglomerate (link). According to Eve CEO Jerome Gackel, a lucky coincidence and an advantage for the Munich-based company. “If you want to continue to grow as a company of our size, you have two options: You can bring a venture capitalist in-house or you can look for a strategic partner,” he told reporters in a video conference. Eve Systems has opted for the latter and now wants to take off with the logistical and financial capabilities of a global corporation behind it.
With ABB / Busch-Jaeger, we are number one in the German smart home market right from the start.
Jerome Gackel, CEO Eve Systems
In return, ABB gets a lot of expertise for Matter products with Eve Systems – as well as access to the end consumer market. Eve is already well-known for its products in Europe and the USA. ABB has made a name for itself in professional building technology. The German subsidiary Busch-Jaeger, for example, successfully offers products in the international KNX standard as well as its own systems such as Busch-free@home, Busch Access-Control and Busch-Welcome. As a “Participant” member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), Busch-Jaeger is one of the active supporters of the Matter standard, but has not announced any products of its own to date.
Eve will apparently remain as an independent brand. A first press photo shows the familiar logo, supplemented by the small addition “by ABB”. At the same time, Asea Brown Bovery, as the group is known by its full name, is to become the leading provider of smart home products based on “Matter” and “Thread” (link). For the 50-person Eve team, the new parent should also ease increasing competition from other Matter vendors. CEO Jerome Gackel is certain: “Consolidation in the smart home market is not over yet.”
Investment bankers at Bryan, Garnier & Co, which advised Eve Systems during the acquisition process (link), expect “a continued high level of mergers and acquisitions” in the smart home segment. After 44 acquisitions across Europe in 2021, there were a total of 41 such deals in 2022, the firm said. “By the end of May 2023, 15 more transactions had already been added,” stated the bank in a press release.
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