Tech Dealmaker Awards

After holding Manchester, N.H.-based antenna-maker Cushcraft Corp. for four years, Polaris Venture Partners and Riverside Partners LLC of Waltham decided it was time to cash out.

Cushcraft was sold for $120 million in February to the Laird Group, a United Kingdom-based electronics and security firm.

“Cushcraft expanded our presence and capabilities in highly engineered, customized radio frequency solutions for a wide variety of communications markets, including wireless local area network, wireless identification and sensing platform, WiMax and radio frequency identification,” Laird Group officials noted in a recent report.

The acquisition allowed the Laird Group to grow. Cushcraft, which employs approximately 120 people, reported revenue of $1.2 million in 2006. And some of Laird’s business units overlap with Cushcraft’s technologies. Laird Group subsidiary Laird Technologies develops wireless cellular handset antennae and electromagnetic interference shielding for the automotive, consumer electronics, medical, military, information technology, and telecommunications industries.

In September 2003, Polaris took a majority interest in Cushcraft. Riverside closed its own investment in Cushcraft the same year.

Bryce Youngren, general partner at Polaris, said the goal is to add value to its investments by being partnering with the management team.

“(CEO) Greg Czuba and his team at Cushcraft did a tremendous job of building Cushcraft into the leading provider of high performance antennas for the WLAN, WiMAX, WISP and RFID markets,” said Youngren.

— Stephen Desantis is a freelance writer in Roxbury.

Category

Top Hardware M&A Deals Sell Side

The Deal

Polaris Venture Partners $120 million exit from Cushcraft. Closed on February 26, 2007.

Key Executives

Greg Czuba, CEO, Cushcraft; James Nugnes, vice president, Cushcraft; Peter Hill, CEO, Laird Group; Bryce Youngren, general partner, Polaris Venture Partners; David Belluck, general partner, Riverside Partners.

Deal advisers

Legal: Goodwin Procter LLP.
Financial: Harris Williams LLC; Mooreland Partners LLC.

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