Raymarine bought by Flir Systems Inc
Flir won the 2009 DAME Award with its M626L thermal imaging camera
One rumour at METS last year was that Flir Systems was one of the parties interested in Raymarine. But it all went quiet after the show and interest in Flir was concentrated on its win in the DAME awards.
BOUGHT: At 18.38 on Friday May 14, the press release announcing the sale of Raymarine to the Oregon based Flir Systems, Inc was published, bringing an intense day of speculation and negotiation to an end .
Late on May 13, Raymarine’s banking syndicate informed the company it was not willing to grant a further waiver of its current non-compliance with its covenants, making all loans outstanding immediately due and payable. Raymarine was unable to meet this demand.
On Friday May 14 the banking syndicate set about having an administrator appointed to Raymarine plc and, in accordance with the Listing Rules and the usual practices of the UKLA, the board requested that trading in the company’s shares be suspended.
In the meantime, Garmin said it had already had preliminary discussions with the potential administrator, saying if the company was placed into administration, it was willing to acquire Raymarine Holdings Limited. What’s more, the offer was ‘likely to be around 35p per share’ and that Garmin would repay all the company’s borrowings.
Complete surprise
So it was a complete surprise to get the 18.38 release from Flir Systems saying it had entered into a definitive agreement with the administrator of Raymarine plc to acquire all of the outstanding shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Raymarine Holdings Limited.
The transaction value of approximately $180m includes repayment of all of Raymarine's indebtedness and approximately $24m in proceeds to Raymarine plc which is equivalent to 20 pence per ordinary share. The acquisition represents the entire business operations of Raymarine and its subsidiaries.
Flir said the acquisition furthers its strategy in the marine market by dramatically increasing its maritime distribution network with the addition of Raymarine's 1,000 dealer outlets and 400+ marine OEMs, nearly all of which are additive to Flir's existing distribution.
The Flir statement went on to day it plans to expand Raymarine's product line breadth by integrating thermal imaging cameras with Raymarine's display, radar and autopilot product lines to create the broadest, most effective, and easiest to use suite of products in the marine electronics industry.
‘We are pleased to announce this strategically compelling transaction,’ commented Earl Lewis, president and CEO of Flir. ‘Raymarine is a leading brand in the industry and has an outstanding reputation for high quality marine electronics equipment.’
When fully integrated, we expect to have a significant marine electronics business as part of our Commercial Systems business and I welcome Raymarine's employees to Flir, Mr Lewis added.
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2012. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
