Honeywell International Inc. agreed to pay US$1.3 billion for Sparta Systems, an industrial software provider that specializes in life sciences, in what would be the largest acquisition since Chief Executive Officer Darius Adamczyk took the helm in 2017.

The all-cash transaction is expected to close in the first quarter, Honeywell said in a statement Tuesday. Sparta, based in Hamilton, New Jersey, is part of the portfolio of private equity firm New Mountain Capital. Founded in 1994, the software maker employs about 250 people.

The deal bolsters Adamczyk’s strategy of marrying software capabilities with Honeywell’s industrial technology. Sparta, the largest pure software provider that Honeywell has bought, will complement the manufacturer’s years of experience in providing automation equipment to the life-science industry. Sparta has more than 400 customers, including 42 of the world’s top 50 pharmaceutical companies, Honeywell said.

While Sparta “will initially help us expand our capabilities for our existing breakthrough initiative in life sciences, we plan to leverage Honeywell’s global footprint and expertise to quickly expand Sparta’s capabilities to serve other markets,” said Rajeev Gautam, president of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies unit.

Sparta’s products will form part of Honeywell’s software offering, which is called Forge. With Honeywell sitting on US$15 billion of cash, the transaction is likely to ease some of the investor pressure on Adamczyk to be more aggressive on acquisitions.

Adamczyk has snapped up smaller companies this year, including the unit of Ballard Power Systems that makes fuel cells for drones and Sine Group, a mobile-phone software provider. The Sparta acquisition, though, is the largest since Honeywell in 2016 purchased Intelligrated, a maker of warehouse automation equipment, under Adamczyk predecessor Dave Cote.

“The acquisition further strengthens Honeywell’s leadership in industrial automation, digital transformation solutions and enterprise performance management software,” the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in the statement.