News
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Jabil Circuit will acquire the manufacturing arm
of Varian Inc. for $195 million, the company said today.
Jabil, a Tier 1 EMS company, will buy Varian Electronics Manufacturing, in a deal expected to close in early March. The Varian EMS unit has annual sales of about $200 million.
At $195 million, Jabil will pay six to seven times Varian's EBITA. Jabil will also inherit about $35 million to $40 million in inventory.
About 85% of Varian's manufacturing business is contract work for medical, communications, industrial and aerospace. Varian will remain a customer, said Tim Main, president and CEO of Jabil, on a conference call Monday.
Medical makes up 40% of Varian's sales, aerospace 15%, instruments 35% and communications 10%.
Jabil, a Tier 1 EMS company, will buy Varian Electronics Manufacturing, in a deal expected to close in early March. The Varian EMS unit has annual sales of about $200 million.
At $195 million, Jabil will pay six to seven times Varian's EBITA. Jabil will also inherit about $35 million to $40 million in inventory.
About 85% of Varian's manufacturing business is contract work for medical, communications, industrial and aerospace. Varian will remain a customer, said Tim Main, president and CEO of Jabil, on a conference call Monday.
Medical makes up 40% of Varian's sales, aerospace 15%, instruments 35% and communications 10%.
AUSTIN, TX - Test tool provider National Instruments has acquired Toronto-based EDA company Electronics Workbench. Financial
details were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to close in the March quarter.
The companies have worked together for years, and National Instruments said the acquisition would strengthen the integration between functional test and design tools and advance graphical system design technology.
National Instruments said it would retain all of Electronics Workbench's approximately 50 worldwide employees, and the EDA firm may hire additional personnel after budgeting talks concluded.
"Our customers are not satisfied with the integration of design, simulation and test tools in the industry today," said Ray Almgren, National Instruments' vice president of product marketing and academic relations. "A graphical system design platform that integrates these disparate tools will increase productivity and make testing throughout the design process more seamless. Our acquisition of Electronics Workbench is a major step forward in making this vision a reality and satisfying the needs of the design engineering community in industry and academia."
The companies have collaborated for several years to integrate their tools. The Electronics Workbench acquisition adds graphical design and simulation software to National Instruments' platform of graphical development tools.
Almgren said National wasn't acquiring Electronics Workbench in order to become a pure-play EDA company like Mentor Graphics or Cadence. "I think that goes back to the frame of reference the industry has: You're either an EDA company or a test company. We're going to become a system design tool company. We're going to innovate on a vector that these guys simply aren't interested in working on," Almgren said. "Our customers tend to be in functional test. The integration between design and test is not very good. In the short term, we can make a lot of improvements."
Bill Wignall, president of Electronics Workbench, explained, "The reality is that Cadence and Mentor are all about IC design. The place where design and test are already integrated is in the IC world. There's no wish from this acquisition to take on those guys. We want to do for system design what's already been done for IC design."
National Instruments will retain all Electronics Workbench employees and continue to operate the company as a separate entity in Toronto. Development teams will work to further integrate the products and knowledge of the two companies.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of National Instruments, Electronics Workbench plans to continue to develop and offer its complete line of design automation software and directly support educational initiatives with uninterrupted support to participating schools.
The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on National Instruments' earnings for the first quarter of 2005.
The deal is expected to close in the March quarter.
The companies have worked together for years, and National Instruments said the acquisition would strengthen the integration between functional test and design tools and advance graphical system design technology.
National Instruments said it would retain all of Electronics Workbench's approximately 50 worldwide employees, and the EDA firm may hire additional personnel after budgeting talks concluded.
"Our customers are not satisfied with the integration of design, simulation and test tools in the industry today," said Ray Almgren, National Instruments' vice president of product marketing and academic relations. "A graphical system design platform that integrates these disparate tools will increase productivity and make testing throughout the design process more seamless. Our acquisition of Electronics Workbench is a major step forward in making this vision a reality and satisfying the needs of the design engineering community in industry and academia."
The companies have collaborated for several years to integrate their tools. The Electronics Workbench acquisition adds graphical design and simulation software to National Instruments' platform of graphical development tools.
Almgren said National wasn't acquiring Electronics Workbench in order to become a pure-play EDA company like Mentor Graphics or Cadence. "I think that goes back to the frame of reference the industry has: You're either an EDA company or a test company. We're going to become a system design tool company. We're going to innovate on a vector that these guys simply aren't interested in working on," Almgren said. "Our customers tend to be in functional test. The integration between design and test is not very good. In the short term, we can make a lot of improvements."
Bill Wignall, president of Electronics Workbench, explained, "The reality is that Cadence and Mentor are all about IC design. The place where design and test are already integrated is in the IC world. There's no wish from this acquisition to take on those guys. We want to do for system design what's already been done for IC design."
National Instruments will retain all Electronics Workbench employees and continue to operate the company as a separate entity in Toronto. Development teams will work to further integrate the products and knowledge of the two companies.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of National Instruments, Electronics Workbench plans to continue to develop and offer its complete line of design automation software and directly support educational initiatives with uninterrupted support to participating schools.
The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on National Instruments' earnings for the first quarter of 2005.
ROGERS, CT - Rogers Corp. has filed suit in U.S. district court
claiming a larger competitor is infringing on a pair of patents
through the manufacture of one of its high frequency laminates.
In the suit, Rogers alleges Isola Laminate Systems is infringing by making, using, selling and importing a material known as IS640, a low-loss circuit board laminate.
Isola responded that it will vigorously defend itself against the claims.
In the suit, Rogers alleges Isola Laminate Systems is infringing by making, using, selling and importing a material known as IS640, a low-loss circuit board laminate.
Isola responded that it will vigorously defend itself against the claims.
SAN FRANCISCO --
In a move that has taken most observers completely by surprise, Carly Fiorina has resigned as chairman and chief
executive of Hewlett-Packard Co.
Fiorina, who managed the massive merger of HP with one of its chief rivals, Compaq Computer, cited differences with the board over executing its strategy.
In a statement, Fiorina suggested she was fired, "While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision. HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."
The HP board has suggested or initiated several changes of late, from restructuring Fiorina's responsibilities to bringing on a new director whose influence is felt industry wide.
Fiorina, who managed the massive merger of HP with one of its chief rivals, Compaq Computer, cited differences with the board over executing its strategy.
In a statement, Fiorina suggested she was fired, "While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision. HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."
The HP board has suggested or initiated several changes of late, from restructuring Fiorina's responsibilities to bringing on a new director whose influence is felt industry wide.
ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics reported fourth-quarter net income of $20.2 million on sales of $524 million.
The contract manufacturer outdid last year's performance, when it reported $487 million in sales and net income of $13.4 million, including charges.
The contract manufacturer outdid last year's performance, when it reported $487 million in sales and net income of $13.4 million, including charges.
For the year ended Dec. 31, the company reported sales of $2 billion, up 8.8%. Net income
rose 28% to $71 million.
"2004 was another good year for Benchmark," said Cary T. Fu, president and CEO. "We enhanced our customer base, reduced
customer concentration, expanded our low-cost manufacturing capacities,
realigned our resources, increased our technical capabilities and delivered
solid financial performance.
Inventories decreased by $33 million to $257 million; inventory turns were 7.5 times.
As of Dec. 31, Benchmark had $367 million in cash and no outstanding debt.
Accounts receivable were $251 million.
Benchmark guided for first quarter 2005 revenue of $510 million and $530 million.
For the year the company anticipates revenue and earnings growth of 10 to 15%.
"Our 2004 new program bookings
provide good momentum for a strong 2005," Fu said.
TEMPE, AZ -- Three-Five Systems Inc.
has promoted David A. Prunier to vice president, general manager for the company's Redmond,
WA, manufacturing operation.
The position is a newly
created post.
Prunier, 43, joined TFS
in September 2003 as senior director for the company's medical products
business. He is a former general manager at Plexus, and director of manufacturing for SCI Systems.
