Rockwell will merge

Implications: I am a CEO in the automation business and previously in the Aerospace segment. I have followed Rockwell since it was based in Pittsburgh and know all the transformation that it has gone through ..I believe that since the acquisition off Allen Bradley and the divestiture of the Defense business to Boeing, the company has lost its identity and continue to search for the right spot but have not found it.Rockwell is a good name and the name was identifiable with certain Brands and market..no longer , it may as well rename itself Allen Bradley as this is what its business now in Automation and the Name Allan Bradley is more appropriate to this business than Rockwell Automation or Rockwell International..etc. The company is certainly a take over candidate for the obvious reasons in it market place

Analysis: Rockwell operates in a crowded field of business and is the smaller player among its peers/competitors .It is not present in the markets that are fueling the automation business, namely Asia. It operates in Asia via Joint ventures and run integration plants , all of which do  not put the company at par with the giants in the automation business such as Siemens, GE and GE Fanuc, ABB ( although I have similar comments about ABB) or Japanese players as Yokogawa  and Omron etc.The company must define its niche, increase its market penetration and improves its operating margins..not easy tasks considering that it operates in a large market of  approx.$60B and does not own 10% of the market share...so my prediction is that either Rockwell will have to go it aggressively or it will merge or be rolled up into a larger player fold...this is not a Rockwell bashing, as I have always admired the company and its roots, but these roots have been lost and it is time to reinvent itself once an for all or  disappear.