Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Teradyne offers $250M to buy Eagle Test Systems

By Mass High Tech Staff

Electronics testing equipment maker Teradyne Inc., has agreed to pay $250 million for the acquisition of publicly traded Eagle Test Systems Inc., a maker of analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency semiconductor test equipment based in Illinois.

Teradyne (NYSE: TER) said it will pay $15.65 per share for Eagle Test. Teradyne has secured a bridge financing commitment for an undisclosed amount in connection with the transaction, according to company officials.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. After the closing, Eagle Test Systems (Nasdaq: EGLT) will be run as a business unit within Teradyne’s Semiconductor Test Division, officials said.

The deal marks North Reading-based Teradyne’s second major buy this year, after it closed the $325 million acquisition of San Jose-based Nextest Systems Corp. in January.

Publicly traded since 2006, but founded in 1976, Eagle Test reported $86 million in revenue in 2007, a sharp dropoff from the $125 million it earned in 2006.

Teradyne was founded in Boston in 1960 by MIT graduates Alex d’Arbeloff and Nick DeWolf. The company specializes in automatic test equipment used to test electronics for the consumer electronics, computing, telecommunications, and defense industries. For 2007, Teradyne reported revenue of $1.1 billion. The company employs 3,600 workers worldwide.