Industry News
Cobham plc announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase M/A-COM from Tyco Electronics for a cash consideration of US$425 M on a debt and cash free basis payable on completion, which will be satisfied from Cobham’s existing cash and debt facilities. The goodwill arising on completion is an allowable tax expense with an estimated net present value of US$45 M, resulting in an effective price of US$380 M. It is anticipated that in 2008 the aerospace and defense (A&D) business of M/A-COM will be just under 40 percent of its total revenue. Cobham intends to hold for resale the commercial business, which represents the balance, as it is non-core. Based on the encouraging level of interest believed to have been expressed during Tyco Electronics’ auction, Cobham anticipates this can be divested expeditiously. The acquisition of M/A-COM is expected to complete in the second half of 2008 and is subject only to customary regulatory approval.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an independent specialty wafer foundry, and Jazz Technologies Inc., a leader in analog-intensive mixed signal (AIMS) foundry solutions, announced the signing of a definitive agreement by which Tower will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Jazz in a stock-for-stock transaction valuing Jazz at a fully diluted equity value of approximately $40 M, based on Tower’s closing price on NASDAQ on May 19, 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of Jazz common stock will be converted into the right to receive 1.8 Tower ordinary shares. The total value of the transaction, including net debt, is approximately $169 M.
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and Radyne Corp. jointly announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Comtech has agreed to acquire Radyne in an all-cash transaction. Aggregate sales of the two companies would have been $651.5 M based on Comtech’s sales of $504.3 M for its four fiscal quarters ended January 31, 2008, and Radyne’s sales of $147.2 M for its four fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2008.
TriQuint Semiconductor,® a leading RF semiconductor manufacturer and foundry services provider, announced the completion of its acquisition of WJ Communications Inc. WJ is a leading supplier of RF solutions for wireless infrastructure. Its devices complement TriQuint’s existing portfolio, broadening the networks market product line while adding RF design expertise to TriQuint’s global facilities through a Silicon Valley (US) site.
Carlson Wireless announced that it recently acquired the SafeTLink™ point-to-point T1 digital microwave 4.9 GHz radio. The radio operates in the 4.9 GHz public safety frequency band and transmits a full or fractional T1 signal along with an independent IP data stream. The SafeTLink will compliment Carlson Wireless’s existing Trailblazer™ and EB-4.9™ public safety band products.
Orbit, a leader in the development of advanced solutions for mobile SATCOM, tracking antennas and audio management for commercial and government applications, announced the delivery of six Marine Stabilized Satellite systems—the OrSat—to AITelecom. AITelecom, a Mexican company operating in the field of satellite communications and ground installations, will provide Orbit’s OrSat systems to one of the most recognized suppliers of PEMEX, the Mexican government’s gas and oil company.
XMA Corp. announced its acquisition of the esteemed Omni Spectra™ brand of microwave components. Since purchasing the CAT line from M/A-COM in 2003, XMA has carried on the Omni Spectra tradition by not only producing many of its original designs, but also drafting customized solutions for use in some of the most advanced communications, aerospace and military applications today. Now, after years of developing high-performance Omni Spectra products, XMA has officially trademarked the brand as part of its strategy to become an industry leader in passive microwave and RF components.
Z-Communications Inc. announced a new division named Z-Comm Microwave based in San Jose, CA. The division is chartered with the development and manufacture of integrated microwave, millimeter-wave assemblies and highly linear power amplifiers for the RF/microwave industry. These products are designed to be used in wireless transmission systems, WiMAX base stations, licensed point-to-point and other microwave radio applications.
RF Micro Devices (RFMD®) and SELEX GALILEO, one of Europe’s leading defense electronics suppliers, announced the two companies have signed a strategic supply agreement. The strategic supply agreement expands upon a former agreement signed in 2001 between SELEX GALILEO and a division of the former Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd., which was acquired by RFMD earlier this year. The strategic supply agreement is expected to encompass multiple high performance semiconductor components. As a result of the supply agreement, the two companies expect RFMD will increasingly support SELEX GALILEO’s delivery of a range of current and future state-of-the-art defense electronics programs. Accordingly, both companies anticipate the strategic supply agreement to be valued at approximately $20 M through 2013.
Acceleware Corp., a developer of acceleration solutions for high-performance computing applications, in conjunction with Schmid & Partner Engineering AG (SPEAG), announced that Korea’s Radio Research Laboratory (RRL) is adopting their combined simulation solution to conduct the testing and certification of all cellular handsets in Korea. RRL is mandated to certify all cellular handsets for the Korean market as well as perform compliance testing and simulations to create national standards. The Acceleware and SPEAG accelerated simulation solution is currently used by RRL to solve advanced Electromagnetic Compliance (EMC), Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Signal Integrity problems to determine the electromagnetic safety of mobile devices for human exposure.
Tektronix Inc., a worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, and LitePoint Corp., a provider of wireless test system solutions, announced their collaborative solution to LTE product development. LitePoint’s RSALTE software is designed to run on Tektronix RSA3000A/B and RSA6100A real-time spectrum analyzers, and offers 3.9G compliance support for designers of UMTS-Long-Term Evolution (LTE) systems.
Finisar Corp., a global technology leader in fiber optic solutions for high-speed networks, and Technical Communities Inc., a service provider for technical organizations that sell to US government agencies, military and prime federal contractors, announced a government services partnership agreement. The agreement authorizes Technical Communities to market Finisar’s Network Tools products including high-speed serial design and test equipment, protocol training and testing services to the government community.
Northrop Grumman Corp. recently presented Gold Supplier awards to 49 companies that routinely demonstrated excellence in product quality, on-time delivery, competitive pricing and other value-added services in 2007. SV Microwave is proud to be one of the companies that received Northrop Grumman Space Technology’s rigorous Supplier Rating Program, which requires suppliers and subcontractors to participate in an ongoing performance assessment. Gold suppliers are selected on the basis of a scorecard that rates each supplier’s management, quality, technical, schedule and financial performance.
Contracts
Anaren Inc. announced that it has received two contracts totaling $13.7 M in follow-on orders for jamming and passive ranging subsystems to be deployed in airborne applications.
Jersey Microwave has been awarded a multi-year $1.6 M dollar contract to supply high performance block converters into a major SATCOM program. The award is only an initial release that is estimated to have a total potential of over $4 M.
Financial News
Ansoft Corp. reports sales of $33.9 M for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 ended April 30, 2008, compared to $28.6 M for the same period in 2007. On a GAAP basis, net income was $8.5 M ($0.34/per diluted share), compared to a net income of $7.9 M ($0.30/per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of last year.
Alerion Capital Group, a technology focused private equity group, and Merit Capital, a mezzanine and equity provider, have partnered with management to invest in VXI Technology Inc. (VTI). Irvine, California-based VTI provides test instruments for a wide variety of industrial, military and commercial applications. With customer applications ranging from testing electronic devices to super-structures to launch vehicles, the company has established a worldwide reputation for providing high-density, modular products for functional test and data acquisition.
Personnel
Danny Cheadle, Jr., vice president and general manager of Teledyne Cougar, passed away on May 15, 2008, at home in San Jose, CA after a year and a half struggle with cancer. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. Cheadle joined Teledyne through the acquisition of Cougar Components in 2005. He started at Cougar Components in 1994 and was instrumental in the successful transition to Teledyne. Teledyne Cougar will always remember Cheadle for his respect for fellow employees, technical knowledge and warm heart.
Auriga Measurement Systems LLC announced it has appointed Yusuke Tajima as CTO. Tajima will steer Auriga’s technical direction as it focuses on enhancing its position as an international leader in modeling and measurement of RF, microwave and millimeter-wave technologies, and the design of sophisticated amplifier-based solutions requiring high power, high efficiency, high frequency and high linearization. Tajima, a founder of the company, spent the past four years as director of modeling and design. He began his career at Toshiba Central Lab in Japan then joined Raytheon Research in Massachusetts.
LadyBug Technologies LLC recently announced the appointment of Scott Conrad as the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. In his new position, Conrad will hold responsibility for LadyBug’s overall sales and marketing strategies worldwide, and will oversee the company’s direct sales force, field representatives and distribution network. Conrad brings over two decades of high-technology sales, engineering, sales-management and channel-management experience to his new position. Prior to joining LadyBug, he served as senior vice president of sales for wireless-test-solution provider LitePoint Corp., Sunnyvale, CA.
M2M provider RF Monolithics Inc. (RFM) announced the election of Farlin A. Halsey to the position of vice president of product marketing. In this position, Halsey will direct and expand RFM’s product marketing and its focus on customer requirements and market trends to improve customer satisfaction, return on investment and overall brand awareness. Prior to joining RFM, Halsey was vice president of marketing and most recently vice president of strategy and alliances for NovAtel Inc., a leading OEM of precision global navigation satellite system (GNSS) components and subsystems.
Jeff Baker has joined the Nurad division of Cobham DES as director of advanced technology. Baker has over 23 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry. He brings a strong systems engineering and business development background, in addition to being a recognized expert in aerospace composite structures development. Prior to joining Nurad, Baker worked on various NASA & National Security applications and programs with Swales Aerospace & TRW Spacecraft Division.
Ducommun Technologies, a manufacturer of RF and microwave products, announced that Rich Crabtree has joined Ducommun Technologies as director, business development microwave products. Crabtree will be responsible for the sale of Ducommun’s microwave products. With over 20 year’s industry experience, he brings a successful background of sales and sales management in the avionics, defense and commercial markets with RF and microwave components and subsystems. Prior to joining Ducommun Technologies, Crabtree was with Renaissance Electronics Corp.
Endwave Corp. announced that Chuck Piercy was named site manager for the company’s El Dorado Hills, CA facility. Piercy joined Endwave in April of 2007 with the company’s acquisition of ALC Microwave Inc., a leading provider of logarithmic amplifiers and other integrated subsystems to many US and international defense prime contractors. He also currently serves as a strategic business manager for Endwave’s Defense and Security business unit. As a key member of ALC Microwave since 2004, Piercy contributed as senior design engineer on many of the integrated subsystems used in early warning radars, threat detection equipment, electronic countermeasures and missile guidance systems. Prior to that, Piercy worked for over a decade at DBS Microwave (which was later acquired by L-3 Communications), where he served as the product line manufacturing manager.
AMETEK Specialty Metal Products (SMP) has named Peter Hoctor as regional sales manager for Europe. Hoctor will be responsible for sales and marketing of AMETEK’s full line of specialty metal products. He brings extensive metals industry experience and a strong background in international marketing to his new position. Hoctor has more than 15 years of experience in the sales and marketing of specialty metals. He is currently sales manager, Europe, for Reading Alloys, a global leader in specialty titanium alloys and highly engineered metal powders acquired by AMETEK in April 2008. Hoctor will retain his position with Reading Alloys as he assumes additional responsibilities for AMETEK Specialty Metal Products.
Communication Infrastructure Corp.® announced that Wally Strader has joined the company as account executive for microwave sales. Based in Addison, TX, Strader will lead the microwave sales team in expanding CIC’s engineering services while overseeing existing accounts and growing other aspects of the business. For nearly 25 years, Strader held various positions at NEC Corp., most recently as western region sales manager responsible for microwave radio sales and account management, where he helped NEC substantially increase its presence in the western US, Canada and the Pacific.
Rep Appointments
ClearComm Technologies LLC announced the appointment of the Cain-Forlaw Co. headquartered in Palatine, IL. Cain-Forlaw will cover the central portion of the US from Illinois to Texas. This group brings a broad experience and complimentary products to ClearComm. ClearComm is a leading manufacturer of filters, duplexers, diplexers and RF assemblies covering the frequency range of 10 MHz to 18 GHz. Contact Cain-Forlaw’s main office at (847) 202-9898 or on the web at www.cain-forlaw.com or ClearComm Technologies at (410) 860-0500, sales@clearcommtech.com.
Modelithics Inc. announced the appointment of international distributors, Ultram Technologies Ltd., as the corporation’s exclusive representative covering Israel. Larry Dunleavy, Modelithics’ CEO, and director of Ultram, Yossi Yuran, have signed a comprehensive agreement designed to fully support the Israeli market for RF and microwave simulation models and characterization services.
CAP Wireless Inc., a supplier of high performance microwave and RF amplifiers and amplifier-based subsystems, announced that in order to provide localized service and support to customers in the northern California and northern Nevada regions, the company has signed Component Solutions of San Jose, CA, as a manufacturers’ representative. Component Solutions specializes in providing technical services and support to microwave/RF and fiber optic customers in the military, communications, test and measurement, and medical markets.
Web Site
Hittite Microwave Corp. announced the launch of its redesigned web site at www.hittite.com. Many exciting features have been added including crisp new webpage designs and a dynamic homepage featuring Hittite’s new products, markets, press releases and featured articles.