US air conditioning and heating manufacturer Trane and transport refrigeration brand Thermo King are once again stand-alone businesses after separation from Ingersoll-Rand.
Under a Reverse Morris Trust transaction with Gardner Denver Holdings, the Industrial segment of the former Ingersoll-Rand plc has been separated and combined with Gardner Denver. The Climate segment, with its Trane and Thermo King brands, now operates as Trane Technologies, and begins trading today on the New York Stock Exchange.
To commemorate this milestone, employees worldwide are engaging in local celebrations, and members of Trane Technologies’ leadership team will ring the NYSE opening bell on March 17.
In line with its new business, Trane Technologies has a new logo and visual identity based on the colour purple, representing the union of Trane’s red and Thermo King’s blue.
“Trane Technologies begins its journey today as a pure-play climate innovation company, partnering with our customers to address their sustainability challenges through heating, cooling and transport refrigeration solutions,” said Michael W Lamach, chairman and CEO of Trane Technologies.
Trane was established in 1885 as a family plumbing business in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It patented its first air conditioner in 1931 and launched its first chiller seven years later. It was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand in 2008. Transport refrigeration company had previously been acquired by Thermo King in 1997 from Westinghouse.
“Our world is contending with unprecedented challenges of urbanisation, natural resource scarcity and climate change. Today, 15% of the world’s carbon emissions come from heating and cooling buildings, and another 10% comes from global food loss. And these numbers are growing, Lamach added. “We excel where these global megatrends intersect with our innovation and advanced technologies for reducing carbon emissions from buildings, minimising waste of food and other perishable goods, and generating productivity for our customers. By challenging what’s possible for a more sustainable future, Trane Technologies will deliver differentiated performance and create value for our employees, customers and shareholders.”
Trane Technologies says it has created a simpler organisational model and business segment structure “to enhance its regional go-to-market capabilities”. This model, it says, is designed to create deep customer focus and relevance in markets around the world.
Trane Technologies will operate its business and report its financials through a regional segment structure comprised of the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific. Sales and marketing, product management, engineering, manufacturing, and distribution will also be managed regionally.
Trane Technologies will have strategic business units within the regional segment structure. The Americas will include three strategic business units: Commercial HVAC, Residential HVAC and Transport Refrigeration. EMEA will comprise Commercial HVAC and Transport Refrigeration, and Asia Pacific also will comprise Commercial HVAC and Transport Refrigeration.
“With a more focused organisation and business model, we are even better positioned to meet the pressing need for innovation in energy efficiency and sustainability,” said Michael W Lamach. By building on our strengths, investing in our people and empowering through a proven business operating system that generates productivity and execution excellence, we will push the boundaries of what’s possible for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”
Jose La Loggia, president of the Trane commercial HVAC business in the EMEA region, told the Cooling Post that the change was “very exciting” for Trane Technologies. Echoing comments on the environment challenges made by Michael W Lamach, he said the new company would enable them to be 100% focused in finding the solutions to some of these climate issues.
“I think we have a big role to play in that space because we have a deep expertise in heating, cooling and refrigeration, La Loggia said. “If we apply the kind of innovations we have and the technologies we have, we can make a big impact on reducing carbon emissions from buildings and reducing the waste of food and perishable goods.”
La Loggia said the goal was to keep driving its industry leading innovations, which has included leading the movement from HFCs to HFOs, and promised “a stream of new product launches”.
