Johnson Matthey has completed its acquisition of US selective catalytic reduction specialist Cormetech, extending its stationary emissions control activities across power generation and energy-intensive industry.
The transaction closed after the companies received the required regulatory approvals and completed the remaining contractual conditions. Johnson Matthey agreed to acquire Cormetech for an enterprise value of $360 million, bringing its catalyst manufacturing, engineering, and service operations into the group’s Clean Air Solutions business.
Founded in 1989, Cormetech supplies more than 400 customers in power generation, refining, petrochemicals, and industrial processing. Its systems reduce nitrogen oxide emissions produced by gas turbines, boilers, and other combustion equipment before exhaust gases are discharged.
Selective catalytic reduction introduces ammonia, or a reagent that produces ammonia, into the exhaust stream before the gas passes through a catalyst. Under controlled conditions, nitrogen oxides react to form nitrogen and water, reducing the concentration of regulated pollutants at the stack.
Catalyst composition is only one element of system performance, since exhaust temperature, reagent distribution, flow uniformity, contamination, and pressure drop determine how effectively the reaction proceeds. Module design becomes especially important where equipment operates across changing loads or limited physical space.
Cormetech contributes intellectual property covering gas turbine applications and catalyst modules, supplementing Johnson Matthey’s established expertise in catalytic materials. The combined operation will be able to provide more closely integrated catalyst and system designs across a wider range of stationary installations.
Johnson Matthey expects the enlarged business to generate more than £200 million in sales during the 2026/27 financial year, with an operating margin of at least the mid-teens. Tightening emissions standards and the rapid construction of power infrastructure serving data centres have been identified as principal areas of growth.
Data centre generation expands the SCR market
The concentration of computing equipment within large data centre campuses is creating electrical loads comparable with sizeable industrial installations. Grid connection delays, network constraints, and demands for uninterrupted operation are leading some developers to consider dedicated gas generation, temporary power, or larger on-site backup systems.
Where generators operate regularly rather than solely during emergencies, permitting authorities are likely to examine their nitrogen oxide emissions more closely. Exhaust treatment must then maintain conversion performance through varying loads, start-up cycles, fuel conditions, and exhaust temperatures.
Designers must balance emissions performance against turbine efficiency because excessive pressure drop across a catalyst system can reduce output. Uneven flow can also leave parts of the catalyst underused while other areas degrade more rapidly, shortening service life and raising operating costs.
Although digital infrastructure is driving a new class of customer, established industrial markets remain substantial. Refineries, chemical plants, utilities, industrial boilers, and manufacturing sites must replace ageing catalyst modules, improve conversion performance, or adapt their systems when operating conditions change.
Replacement and maintenance activity provides recurring demand because SCR catalysts deteriorate in service. Contaminants can block active surfaces, thermal cycling can damage structures, and prolonged operation outside the preferred temperature range can reduce conversion efficiency.
Inspection, laboratory testing, cleaning, regeneration, and replacement therefore accompany new equipment sales. Cormetech’s installed base gives Johnson Matthey access to those service requirements as well as the pipeline of new generation projects.
The acquisition also alters the balance of Johnson Matthey’s emissions activities as transport markets shift gradually towards electrification. Stationary combustion will remain part of electricity and industrial systems for many years, even as renewable generation, storage, and grid reinforcement expand.
Gas-fired assets continue to provide dispatchable output during periods when wind or solar generation is low, while some industrial processes lack an immediately available alternative to combustion. Their continued use increases the requirement to control local air pollutants alongside carbon dioxide.
SCR cannot remove the carbon content of natural gas, but properly designed equipment can substantially reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. Permitting decisions will increasingly consider both forms of environmental performance, particularly where generation is proposed near urban populations or in areas already hosting substantial data infrastructure.
Johnson Matthey has been simplifying its portfolio and directing investment towards businesses where its chemistry, materials, and process knowledge can support differentiated products. Cormetech provides an established customer base and production capability rather than requiring the group to construct a stationary emissions business from the beginning.
Integration will involve more than combining sales teams. Catalyst manufacturing, engineering methods, intellectual property, field service, quality systems, and customer support must operate consistently across the enlarged business without weakening delivery to existing installations.
The economics of the acquisition will depend partly on whether planned data centre power projects move into construction at the anticipated pace. Electricity availability, planning decisions, community opposition, and changing approaches to grid connection could all affect the volume and configuration of new generating equipment.
Demand across conventional power and industrial markets provides a broader base, while the growing replacement requirement for installed SCR systems offers activity less dependent on new project approvals. Johnson Matthey now has a larger position across both areas, with performance determined by catalyst life, system engineering, manufacturing consistency, and the ability to support equipment operating under increasingly variable conditions.
