Québec City-based non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection tech provider Eddyfi is staying put under new ownership.
The deal values Eddyfi slightly more than the market cap of Lightspeed Commerce, and marks one of the few recent billion-dollar deals in the province.
Maryland-based welding equipment maker ESAB agreed to purchase Eddyfi for $1.45 billion USD ($2 billion CAD) on Monday. The price tag values Eddyfi slightly more than the market cap of Montréal’s Lightspeed Commerce, and marks one of the few billion-dollar deals in the province since Nuvei sold for $6.3 billion USD in 2024. As part of the deal, ESAB has made “firm commitments” to maintain Eddyfi’s workforce and head office in Québec City.
“ESAB brings the scale, resources and long-term commitment needed to support our people, strengthen our impact with customers and honour the legacy we have built,” Eddyfi founder and chairman Martin Thériault said in a statement. “It is the beginning of a new chapter defined by growth, pride, renewed momentum, and continued expansion from here in Quebec City.”
Founded in 2009, Eddyfi provides non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection technology to large engineering firms and service providers in the aerospace, energy, mining, power generation, and transportation sectors. Eddyfi says it has more than 1,000 employees and serves customers in more than 110 countries, including oil giants like Shell, American multinational General Electric, and even the London Underground. Eddyfi is backed by Québec pension manager La Caisse and Montréal-based private equity firm Novacap.
Eddyfi’s portfolio of NDT tech, which it’s built up over years of buying up other companies, helps companies detect issues with their infrastructure (like a plane or a pipeline) with minimal need to take pieces apart for manual inspection. The naked eye might not be able to see the crack forming in an oil pipeline, but an engineer could attach Eddyfi’s Sonyks ultrasonic testing device to it to test the material’s integrity with a sound wave, or even send one of its drones down the pipe to take a look inside.
Eddyfi is expected to generate approximately $270 million USD in revenue and $80 million of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for ESAB in 2026. ESAB expects to fund the acquisition with a combination of cash on hand, debt, and $318 million of fully committed equity.
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The sale follows the parent company, Previan, splitting into two companies last June: Eddyfi and NDT Global. Following the split, NDT Global was refinanced. As Eddyfi was considering doing the same, the value of the ESAB offer “made the difference” to a complete sale, Eddyfi said in a statement.
Eddyfi said it will continue to operate with its current leadership teams, product roadmaps, and commercial commitments after the transaction closes, which is expected in the second quarter of this year.
ESAB president and CEO Shyam P. Kambeyanda said in a statement that the acquisition expands the company’s total addressable market by billions of dollars and strengthens its exposure to the aerospace, defense, nuclear, energy, and civil infrastructure markets.
Feature image courtesy Eddyfi.