The agreement follows Xylem President and CEO Matthew Pine's comments to ENR in March that the company planned to deploy about $1 billion annually on acquisitions.

“We have an incredible balance sheet, and we’re looking to continue to add to our portfolio technologies that can help us help make the water industry be more resilient,” Pine told ENR.

He described acquisitions as the third part of what he called a “three-act play” for the global water technology company, following efforts to simplify its operating model and build a growth engine around opportunities including water quality, PFAS, water scarcity, resilience and leak reduction.

“In the second half of last year, we made about $250 million worth of acquisitions, and we have a lot more of that coming,” Pine said. “Our goal is to deploy about $1 billion of capital toward mergers and acquisitions each year to help these technologies and companies scale their solutions globally.”

Cornell and Roper add engineered pumping technologies for applications involving slurry transport, solids handling and demanding suction-lift requirements, along with patented self-priming capabilities. The manufacturers supply the construction, mining, municipal, energy, agriculture and food and beverage markets.

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Cornell says its pumps are used in heavy construction, mining and dewatering, municipal wastewater, sewer bypass and flood-control applications. The company showcased equipment for heavy construction, aggregate and mining applications at CONEXPO earlier this year. 

Roper Pump manufactures positive-displacement pumping equipment for industrial fluid-handling applications, including equipment designed for viscous, abrasive and solids-laden fluids. Xylem said the businesses will become part of its water infrastructure segment.

“The long-term demand drivers supporting our business continue to strengthen, creating new opportunities across industrial markets where water is increasingly critical to operational success,” Pine said in announcing the transaction. He said the acquisition would expand Xylem's presence in key growth sectors.

Xylem reported $9 billion in revenue in 2025 and has about 22,000 employees worldwide.

Pine also said direct business inside data centers accounted for about 1% of Xylem revenue, while identifying power generation, semiconductor fabrication and mining as high-growth markets in what he called the broader “AI ecosystem.”

Under terms of the acquisition, the $1.46-billion purchase price represents approximately 11.6 times projected 2026 EBITDA after $23 million in anticipated run-rate cost synergies and an estimated $170 million in expected tax benefits, Xylem said. The company expects the transaction to add to adjusted earnings per share beginning in 2027.