Oxford Instruments acquires Asylum Research for 80 million dollars

published 17 December 2012

High technology tools and systems provider Oxford Instruments has announced the acquisition of microscope provider Asylum Research Corporation.

The acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to be completed before the end of December 2012.

Asylum is being acquired from its management for an initial debt free, cash-free consideration of $32.0 million with a deferred element of up to $48.0 million payable over three years dependent on its performance over that period.

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Asylum Research generated Earnings Before Interest and Taxation (EBIT) of $1.1 million in the twelve months to December 31 2011 from revenue in the same period of $19.6 million. It had gross assets of $6.2 million as at December 31 2011. The acquisition will be funded from existing facilities.

Based in Santa Barbara, California, Asylum Research is an established US company with subsidiaries in the UK, Germany and Taiwan. Its scanning probe microscopes technology is used by academic and industrial customers for a wide range of materials and bioscience applications.

The acquisition of Asylum Research is in line with Oxford Instruments' 14 Cubed objectives, to achieve a 14% average compound annual growth rate in revenues and a 14% return on sales by the year ending March 2014.

This acquisition contributes to the planned acquisition element of the revenue growth objective. While Asylum Research is expected to deliver less than the 14% targeted margin in this and the next financial year, following the acquisition the 14 Cubed margin target for the Group remains unchanged.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jonathan Flint, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Instruments, stated:

"The acquisition of Asylum Research significantly increases our footprint in the nanotechnology space and complements our strong position in electron microscopes with a presence in another fundamental nanotechnology measurement technique.

"The acquisition also gives us access to the rapidly growing bio-nano market as it allows customers to perform analysis of organic samples in their natural liquid environments, something which cannot readily be done using electron microscopes."