Friday, November 20, 2015

AMS to Acquire CMOSIS for 220M Euros

BusinessWire: ams, an Austrian maker of sensor and analog solutions, is to acquire 100% of the shares in CMOSIS in an all-cash transaction.

Founded in 2007, CMOSIS operates as a fabless image sensor supplier from locations in Belgium, Germany, Portugal, and the U.S. and has more than 110 employees. CMOSIS expects to generate full year 2015 revenues of approx. EUR 60m with strong operating profitability above ams’ current group operating profitability. Based on available information, CMOSIS expects to continue year-on-year revenue growth in 2016.

Under the terms of the agreement, ams will acquire 100% of the shares in CMOSIS from TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, and management shareholders for an equity value of approx. EUR 220m. The transaction is expected to close within the next six weeks subject to regulatory approvals and the occurrence of certain conditions defined in the agreements with the sellers of the CMOSIS shares.

Acquiring CMOSIS is a highly complementary expansion of our sensor portfolio and another major step in executing our sensor solutions growth strategy. This transaction extends our market leadership in optical sensors and will strengthen our position as the leading pure-play sensor solutions provider for growth markets including Industry 4.0, IoT (Internet of Things) and medical diagnostics. Integrating cameras with advanced optical sensors will drive new sensor solutions across vertical markets and accelerate our growth plans as we combine CMOSIS’ leading edge IP and design capabilities with our manufacturing competence and optical sensor strengths”, emphasizes Kirk Laney, CEO of ams.

CMOSIS has built a leading position in some of the most challenging imaging applications based on our deep technology expertise in CMOS area and line scan image sensors. Our team is at the forefront of global shutter technology for high-end imaging having up to more than 15 years of experience in this field. We are excited to join ams creating a leader in advanced imaging solutions. We will leverage ams’ technical and operational expertise and profit from the global access to potential new customers to realize our full growth potential”, adds Luc de Mey, CEO of CMOSIS.

Update: Knack.be reports that CMOSIS turnover this year is expected to be about 60m Euros, compared with 54.9m in 2014. The profit after tax in 2014 was 9.5m.

Bloovi.be reports that yesterday, CMOSIS won Deloitte-Belgium 2015 Technology Fast 50 Award for 615% annual turnover growth, possibly based on 2013 and 2014 data.

16 comments:

  1. Deal will be finished in 6 weeks from now. Nice Christmas present for the CMOSIS shareholders. Congratulations !

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  2. 220M Euros ($234M)! That makes the $400M that ON Semiconductor paid for Aptina (a company with 10x the revenue of CMOSIS) seem even more like a bargain!

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    1. What about $165M that Sony paid for Toshiba imaging business, including hundreds of patents, 1,100 employees, Oita fab, and ~$250M revenue?

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    2. The difference is clear: One makes a lot of profit after tax, the other 2 were in deep loss.

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  3. The valuation is not just about revenues, but about PAT, debt, growth potential, product mix, company's market focus, etc. Please stop comparing apples and oranges.

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  4. Bravo ! Un parcours sans faute !!

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  5. End of the road for CMOSIS and a nice exit for the shareholders. Will be interesting to see whether they end up like fillfactory.

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  6. Is it known if key personal is staying at CMOSIS, and if the business model will stay the same (e.g. development of new products as planned)?

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  7. My prediction: Key people will stay with the company until the legally binding time.. and after that they will all join a research institute (no name needed).. and they will then come up with their next venture that will compete with the current CMOSIS and Fillfactory. That is how it is going with CMOSIS and Fillfactory (ON Mechelen) right now.

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    1. Maybe I would do the same .....

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    2. Kudos for your prediction. If you do the reality check 6 years after your comment you have to say: this is exactly what has happened.

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  8. Everyone is forgetting the OnSemi lawsuit and that founders only retained 20% ownership after the M & A of TA. This was an exit strategy by TA Associates before the stuff hit the fan. The founders got the real payoff two years ago.

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  9. Haha... the lawsuit has been settled out of court. I will not say more about the deal. According to the press release, TA had 100%. So, nothing for founders in this round.

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    1. That's not what is written in the PR.

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  10. There is zero reference in IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, where this suit was filed that this has been settled out of court, which is required. Also, haha to you, CMOSIS principals owned 20% after the M & A, and I know this as a fact being very close to this situation.

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  11. I wonder.. is CMOSIS now going to use AMS as a foundry? Wasn't CMOSIS working on a new product line, said to be released end 2016?

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