Active Silicon Ltd announced that it has been acquired by Solid State plc, the AIM listed manufacturer of computing, power and communications products, and value-added supplier of electronic and opto-electronic components.
The transaction was completed Friday 26th February 2021 and announced on Monday 1st March 2021. The initial consideration of £6.3m is being settled out of Solid State’s existing cash resources and banking facilities. Solid State is a value-added electronics group supplying industrial and military markets with ruggedised and durable components, assemblies and manufactured units for use in harsh environments.
Operating through two main divisions, Manufacturing (Steatite) and Value Added Supplies (Solid State Supplies and Pacer), the group specialises in complex engineering challenges often requiring design-in support and component sourcing for computing, power, communications, electronic and optoelectronic products. Active Silicon’s expertise in the design, manufacture and supply of industry-leading vision components will enable Solid State to further their operations in the areas of machine and computer vision, and provides Active Silicon with greater potential to develop their embedded computing and AI capabilities.
The timing of this acquisition fits perfectly with the expansion of their Harrier range of camera solutions, opening access for a wider and more diverse marketplace. Active Silicon will operate as an independent entity within the industrial computer product portfolio of Steatite’s manufacturing division.
Commenting on the acquisition, Colin Pearce, CEO of Active Silicon, said “We are pleased to become part of the Solid State Group and firmly believe the synergies of our embedded electronics expertise, combined with Solid State’s portfolio of computing platforms, will lead to an acceleration of our profitable growth in the expanding areas of AI and embedded computing in general. We’re grateful to all our customers who have placed their trust in us to deliver innovative, quality-driven vision components. This acquisition ensures that we’ll be able to continue to invest in the research and development needed to keep their vision systems evolving and adding value to their applications.”
Commenting on the Acquisition, Gary Marsh, Chief Executive of Solid State, said: “Solid State’s acquisition strategy targets complementary technologies with exposure to structural growth markets. The acquisition of Active Silicon achieves both of these objectives while additionally broadening the capacity for the enlarged Group to increase its range of own brand products and value added services.
“The computing sector has been a key market for Solid State, which has driven a focus on expanding capability in the development of AI enabled technologies for industries such as medical, security, defence and life sciences. We see the acquisition of Active Silicon as a considerable step in broadening our customer offering and further extending into the product value chain.
“We look forward to welcoming the Active Silicon team to the Solid State group and are very optimistic about our future together.”
Matthew Richards, Managing Director of Steatite, and Peter James, Group Finance Director, will hold a presentation on Active Silicon at 16.00 on 4 March 2021. The presentation will be hosted through the digital platform Investor Meet Company. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Solid State plc here.
Investors who have already registered and added to meet the Company will automatically be invited. Questions can be submitted pre-event to solidstate@walbrookpr.com, or in real time during the presentation via the "Ask a Question" function.
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