WITH THE INK still drying on the deal, Honeywell announced this morning at its Users Group symposium that it had agree to acquire InterCorr International, Houston-based provider of online corrosion detection diagnostics.

The company's SmartCET technology, which has been shown to reduce corrosion management costs by as much as 20%, will be integrated into Honeywell's Experion PKS to help customers further reduce maintenance costs and increase unit productivity through minimizing failures, avoiding unplanned downtime and increasing run time. Financial terms were not disclosed. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to occur in July 2005.

"Global process control industries spend an average of $50 billion a year on corrosion problems, which can hinder their abilities to operate at optimal levels," said Jack Bolick, president of Honeywell Process Solutions. "By integrating InterCorr technology with Experion PKS, we anticipate helping our customers save on corrosion detection and prevention."

"SmartCET is designed to reduce the financial burden that corrosion-related problems bring to the process industries," said Dr. Russel Kane, chief technologist and founder of InterCorr. "It provides online, real-time data that measures the corrosion rate in mils per year and detects general and localized corrosion conditions."

"Corrosion has traditionally been a niche industry, partly because it has only provided off-line, historical data for general corrosion," added Lars Jorgensen, InterCorr CEO. "With the combination of InterCorr's deep corrosion knowledge, SmartCet technology, and Honeywell's vast process knowledge, we will take proactive corrosion control to a new level."