Friday, April 3, 2009

M/A-COM Tech bought for up to $90M

By Mass High Tech staff

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Lowell-based commercial wireless chip maker M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. has been purchased from its UK-based parent company for a possible $90 million by John Ocampo, the owner of Gaas Labs LLC, a semiconductor private equity fund based in California.

M/A-COM Tech’s parent, Cobham PLC, received $30 million in cash, $30 million in senior loan notes secured by the M/A-COM Tech assets and a potential $30 million based future revenue during 2010 to 2012.

M/A-COM Tech was founded as Microwave Associates in 1950. Once Cobham bought the company from its then-parent Tyco Electronics Inc., the division was re-incorporated in September of 2008, when Cobham also bought M/A-COM’s defense and commercial businesses for a combined for $425 million.

Among the products in M/A-COM’s portfolio are semiconductors, radio frequency identification (RFID) systems and other industrial wireless technologies. The company said it will continue to focus on commercial, industrial and government markets.

Cobham made its intentions to sell off M/A-COM Tech when it made the acquisition in September, saying it wasn’t part of its core mission.

“Knowing we are going to be divested, we are feeling more like the independent M/A-COM of the 1990s than ever before,” said Steve Hurwitz, a director of business development for M/A-COM Tech, in a recent interview. “You can feel the entrepreneurial spirit coming back.”