Swedish-Swiss engineering group ABB swallows British Chloride Group in an all-cash offer.

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Swedish-Swiss engineering group ABB, the world’s biggest maker of power grids, has made an offer to acquire UK-based Chloride Group Plc in in a move to meet the growing demand for uninterruptible power supplies, it said in a statement Tuesday.

London-based Chloride Group, the UK's largest supplier of secure power systems to hospitals and other public buildings, employs some 2,500 people and reported revenue of 336 million pounds in its fiscal year ended March 31.

The offer price (325 pence per share) values the business at 860 million pounds ($1.24 billion). The Chloride board has agreed to accept the offer.

ABB beat a rival approach from Emerson Electric Co. The Swedish-Swiss company bid 141 million pounds more than Emerson to get Chloride’s seal of approval for a takeover, Bloomberg said.

“The combination of Chloride’s strong position in the fast-growing medium- to high-power UPS business with ABB’s global reach and complementary power and automation offering provides significant growth opportunities for both businesses,” said ABB’s chief executive office Joe Hogan. “The transaction is in line with our strategy to acquire companies especially in areas where demand is converging across both of these businesses.”

The acquisition is subject to approval by Chloride shareholders, the UK High Court and certain regulatory authorities.