Radstone Technology Plc, the Towcester, UK electronics manufacturer, has paid 4m pounds ($6.5m) for the manufacturing services business of North Wales-based Kemitron Manufacturing, making good on promises earlier this year that it will seek to grow through acquisition this year (CI No 3,784). The combined group will have annual sales of 18m pounds ($29.2m), with Kemitron’s manufacturing services arm folded into Radstone’s existing Foundation technology unit, while Kemitron’s remaining PCB manufacturing business will be renamed FT Kemitron Ltd.
Charles Paterson, Radstone’s group managing director said the deal adds important extra capacity to his company’s overall capacity, and is a particular boost to the Foundation manufacturing services business. Paterson believes analysts’ estimates that the UK electronics manufacturing services sector is growing at 15% per annum are conservative. Radstone itself is growing at nearer 25%.
As well as greater depth, the acquisition also gives Radstone wider geographical reach in a business which really is all about being close to your customer Paterson said. He said that Radstone will continue to look for interesting opportunities to make further acquisitions, which may mean looking to North America, which currently accounts for 51% of sales, but where the company’s only facility is its Montvale, New Jersey sales office.
The Kemitron deal has been funded by a stock issue on the London exchange late last week, and a 1.5m pounds cash payment. Given present market interest in the UK electronics sector, Paterson said returning to the market for more funding for the right kind of company would not be a problem.
