Multi-million pound takeover of NI firm could create hundreds of jobs

Hundreds of jobs could be created as the result of the takeover of a Northern Irish engineering firm, its chief executive has said.

Siemens Energy, the huge German industrial company, has agreed to buy the Camlin Group which currently employs 650 people, including 340 in Northern Ireland.

Lisburn firm Camlin primarily makes equipment which monitors the performance of electricity grids.

As the continued growth of renewable energy makes grid management more complicated there is a growing market for Camlin's predictive products.

In 2024, the company made a pre-tax profit of £8.4m on turnover of £88m.

Camlin's chief executive, Peter Cunningham, said Siemens is "very committed and very serious" about investing in the business.

"We haven't worked out the exact plans yet but I wouldn't be surprised to see the footprint here in Northern Ireland at least double, maybe even triple over the next short number of years," he told BBC News NI.

Cunningham said they were approached by Siemens Energy several months ago as the two companies shared significant customers.

"When Siemens really started to understand what we had under development they realised we were going to become very, very valuable to them in the long term and to their customers."

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed but it is likely to be worth over £250m.

When it completes it will be the second big deal made by the Cunningham engineering family.

In 2008 John Cunningham sold his Kelman business to GE Energy, the US engineering group.

With his sons Peter and Michael he retained a selection of highly specialised engineering units and intellectual property which was developed into the Camlin Group.

The Cunninghams are the majority shareholders in the group alongside outside investors and senior managers.

Peter Cunningham said the firm will continue to be locally managed and the Camlin name will be retained.

Siemens Energy was spun off from the main Siemens group to become a standalone company in 2020.

It has businesses in power plant technology, wind energy and grid services.

Tim Holt, member of the executive board of Siemens Energy said the deal would strengthen its position in grid operations.

"Camlin Group is known for their high-quality products, skilled workforce and advanced software portfolio. Together, we can help customers move from reactive maintenance to data‑driven, condition‑based operation," he added.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close before the end of 2026.

Building a technology business and selling it to a global industrial giant is a career-defining achievement for any entrepreneur.

Now two generations of the Cunningham family have managed it.

John Cunningham, who is 82, founded his first major business, Kelman, in Cookstown in 1994 before relocating it to Lisburn.

It came up with a new way of monitoring the performance of electrical transformers and was sold to GE in 2008.

That deal was carefully structured so that he kept control of patents which GE did not need.

Along with his sons Peter and Michael they were able to use that know how to scale up a new business which became Camlin.

Peter Cunningham said his father has been a "great mentor and sounding board" and was "delighted" by the Siemens deal.