POWAY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2016--
Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) today announced that it has agreed to acquire
Kita Manufacturing Co. LTD. (Kita), a Japan-based company that designs,
manufactures and sells spring probe contacts used in final test
contactors, probe cards, PCB test boards and connectors sold to
customers worldwide.
Luis A. Müller, Cohu President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “The
acquisition of Kita adds key technology and manufacturing capability to
our ITS business that, combined with our leading handler market share,
enables significant growth in the $685 million contactor market. Kita
has initiated a significant manufacturing capacity expansion in Osaka,
Japan that will accelerate our plans.”
Kita’s current year sales are estimated to be $17 million. The purchase
price is $15 million in cash to be funded out of Cohu’s existing cash
reserves and the assumption of operating debt of $2.6 million net of
cash acquired. The agreement also provides for up to $3 million of
contingent earn-out cash consideration based on certain growth targets
for revenue and profitability. The company will assume debt of $4.8
million associated with manufacturing capacity expansion in Osaka that
is aligned with Cohu’s growth strategy. The transaction is subject to
certain closing conditions and is expected to be completed during Cohu’s
fiscal first quarter of 2017.
Following the acquisition, Kita will continue to be led by its current
senior management team, including President Tomohiko Kita, and will
combine with Cohu’s ITS contactor business unit to deliver a broad
portfolio of solutions to customers.
Müller concluded “We are seeing opportunities to embed our thermal
technology within contactors to better manage temperature and improve
test yield. Kita offers an extensive portfolio of spring probes that are
complementary to Cohu’s contactors and enable us to supply a total
solution to our automotive and mobile customers. We expect this
transaction to be accretive in 2017 and provide significant sales
synergies.”
A conference call to discuss the acquisition will take place at 1:30
p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, November 16, 2016.
The call will be broadcast simultaneously over the Internet. Interested
investors can access the webcast and accompanying slide presentation at www.cohu.com
and click on “Investor Information” at least five minutes before the
call begins. The webcast, slide presentation and transcript of the
conference call will be archived on our website.
Forward Looking Statements:
Certain matters discussed in this release, including statements
concerning the expected transaction completion date, anticipated
operational and sales synergies to be gained from the acquisition,
long-term benefits to Cohu stakeholders, the expected future operating
results and anticipated EPS accretion from the acquisition, expectations
concerning growth in sales and expansion in manufacturing infrastructure
are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected or forecasted. Such risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, our ability to successfully integrate acquired
businesses and operations, our ability to convert new products under
development into production on a timely basis, support product
development and meet customer delivery and acceptance requirements for
next generation equipment, failure to obtain customer acceptance
resulting in the inability to recognize revenue and accounts receivable
collection problems, our reliance on patents and intellectual property,
compliance with U.S. export regulations, and the cyclical and
unpredictable nature of capital expenditures by semiconductor
manufacturers. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed
more fully in Cohu's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.
Cohu assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
About Cohu:
Cohu is a leading supplier of semiconductor test and inspection
handlers, micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test
contactors and thermal sub-systems used by global semiconductor
manufacturers and test subcontractors.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161115006808/en/
Source: Cohu, Inc.
Cohu
Jeffrey D. Jones – Investor Relations
(858) 848-8106
