German PCB maker Jumatech GmbH expands its product portfolio and production capacity
with financial support by Cipio Partners, Chemolio Holding AG and various private investors that are competent in the business.

publicité

May 11, 2006 18:05 (evertiq)
"JUMATECH is assuming a clear technological pioneering role in printed circuit board manufacturing industry", explains Werner Dreesbach of Cipio Partners. "JUMATECH's wire-written printed circuit boards open up numerous application areas that previously were not
accessible - at substantially reduced cost."

Cipio Partners is an internationally leading investment management house in the secondary direct market. Founded in mid-2003, Cipio manages a number of international funds in early and late-stage venture capital as well as in mid-market investment segments. The investment which is atypical for Cipio Partners is a result from the longstanding and close relationship with JUMATECH's new management team. Cipio has branches in Munich, London, and San Jose. Chemolio Holding is a holding company with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland that invests in companies active in technology, leisure and health.

AT&S annual results for 2005/06 show a 13% increase in sales, and EBIT growth of 24%, dividend to be increased. Sales of EUR 375m and EBIT of over EUR 26m; ramp-up of its second Shanghai facility is to follow in August.
May 10, 2006 12:32 (evertiq)
AT&S, Europe and India's largest producer of printed circuit boards and one of the world's most successful suppliers to the mobile phone industry, posted sales of EUR 375m in 2005/06, a 13% increase. Operating profit (EBIT) for the year was up 24%, to about EUR 26m.

Net income for the year was EUR 28.3m, resulting in earnings per share of EUR 1.09. In 2005/06 AT&S's sales of printed circuit boards for mobile phones exceeded the 100 million mark for the first time in its history. This accounted for approximately 65% of total revenues.

In the 2006/07 financial year beginning in April, Management forecasts further revenue growth of somewhat more than 20%, to take sales to EUR 455m. This increase will be driven by the start of production in the second Shanghai plant, continuation of the boom in the mobile telephone market and growth of the Korean subsidiary, Tofic.

On May 5, 2006, FCI signed an agreement for the sale of its Electrical Power Interconnect (EPI) European and Asian activities to the SICAME group. This agreement does not include EPI activities in Japan and in the Americas, where FCI markets its products under the well recognized Burndy brand name. With this divestiture, FCI reinforces its focus on its strongest positions in terms of market share and growth potential. This particularly relates to its automotive, communication, data, consumer and microconnection businesses as well as selective applications in the electrical distribution market.

SICAME is an international group that offers products and services for electricity transportation and distribution, including safety systems and equipment. The integration of EPI Europe and Asia activities within SICAME will permit the company to broaden its product offering and to reinforce its position in emerging countries.

Jean-Lucien Lamy FCI Chairman & Pierre François SICAME Executive Board Chairman

MUNICH, Germany & PARIS & COCKEYSVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2006--EADS and Saft America have combined their expertise in the field of thermal batteries via ASB to form the new subsidiary Advanced Thermal Batteries Inc. Located in Cockeysville, Maryland.
With more than 50 years of experience supplying thermal batteries for missiles, launchers, aircraft, torpedoes and submarines, ASB, Saft America and EADS Inc. are merging their know-how and assets to offer both development and production capacities in the United States.
Advanced Thermal Batteries Inc. supplies customized thermal batteries for missiles and smart weaponry. Thermal batteries are inert batteries designed for absolute reliability and shelf storage of at least 15 years.

PCB maker Denali Partners (who most recently acquired two plants from Tyco Electronics) announced that they will lay off 362 of its 400 employees in its PCB factory in Madrid.
May 04, 2006 16:21 (Yahoo! Finance)
by: Jesper Olsson
On March 31 Tyco Electronics sold its PCB plants in Valladolid and Madrid and now the new owners, Denali Partners LLC based in USA, announced that the manufacturing will be transferred from the Madrid plant to the company´s plant in Valladolid and to manufacturing units in China. As a result of the transferred production 362 out of 400 employees will be laid off from the company´s Madrid plant.

Tyco Electronics has now only one site left in Europe, the one in Dublin, Ireland

According to evertiq's sources, Norwegian PCB distributor Elmatica A/S has bought PCB design firm Nordic Printdesign.
May 03, 2006 09:47 (evertiq)
Elmatica and Nordic Printdesign will together have a total of 32 employees. The turnover in 2005 was 13 million Euros. No figures of the transaction have been revealed.

Finland based antenna maker LK Products will down size its operation in Kempele, Finland. 36 workers will be removed between May and August.
May 03, 2006 12:35 (evertiq)
LK Product has decided to turn the Kempele production unit in to a Rresearch and development facility. Later on this year new staff with other skills will be hired to Kempele. LK Product also has production units in Hungary, the United States, China and Korea.

Le holding contrôlé par la famille Wendel a repris Deutsch pour 1,04 milliard de dollars (834 millions d'euros). Spécialisé dans la fabrication de connecteurs pour des marchés variés (aéronautique, défense, véhicules lourds, exploitation pétrolière, télécommunications), la société compte parmi ses clients EADS, Boeing, Dassault Systèmes, Safran, Ferrari, John Deere ou Renault. Son chiffre d'affaires s'est élevé à 500 millions de dollars l'an dernier, dont 40 % réalisé en Europe et 20 % en France. La croissance annuelle était de « 15 % ces dernières années », précise Wendel. Fondé en 1938, Deutsch emploie 3.500 personnes réparties sur 10 sites, dont trois en France.

Pour Wendel, il s'agit d'une première puisque le holding limitait jusqu'à présent son champ d'action à la France. « C'est une affaire familiale correspondant bien à notre philosophie d'investissement », disait-on hier au siège de la société tout en soulignant que plusieurs entreprises du portefeuille opèrent à l'échelle mondiale. D'un point de vue financier, Wendel limite son apport à 350 millions de dollars, le reste étant apporté sous forme de dette. Il contrôlera 89 % du capital « aux côtés du management, qui en détiendra le solde ».

Le rapport commandes sur facturations de l'industrie allemande du circuit imprimé s'est maintenu à un niveau élevé en janvier 2006, à 1,18 très exactement, après 1,30 en novembre et 1,19 en décembre 2005 (chiffres corrigés), vient de nous apprendre le syndicat professionnel Zvei. La bonne santé de cette industrie s'est traduit par une progression des ventes de 5% en janvier 2006 comparé à janvier 2005, une valeur qui n'avait plsu été enregistrée depuis 5 ans. Les commandes ont atteint, elles, un niveau comparable à celui d'il y a quatre ans. Selon le Zvei, l'une des raisons à cette évolution positive résiderait dans la migration vers le sans plomb, avec son lot de conceptions à renouveler. Parallèlement, les sociétés spécialisées dans le prototypage et les petites séries en service rapide profiteraient du lancement traditionnel de nouvelles productions en début d'année. Enfin, des ''retours d'Asie'' seraient également visibles dans les grandes séries.

Norway's largest EMS-provider Kitron's operating revenue during this years first quarter amounted to NOK 433.1 million (NOK 379.9 million). The growth in sales, together with the cost reductions following the reorganisation in the Norwegian electronic manufacturing services (EMS) business, has produced profit before tax of NOK 16.1 million.
May 11, 2006 10:36 (evertiq)
Kitron's operating revenue increased by 14.0 per cent compared to the first quarter 2005 Turnover in the Norwegian EMS operation, Kitron AS, represented 59.8 per cent of the group's turnover during the first quarter. The Swedish EMS operation, Kitron AB, provided 16.8 per cent of Kitron's turnover. Kitron Lithuania represented 8.6 per cent of the group's turnover in the first quarter. In total the EMS operation provided 84.0 per cent of turnover in the first quarter whereas during the same period last year it represented 88.2 per cent of Kitron's turnover.

Kitron Microelectronics provided 16.0 per cent of the group's turnover in the first quarter against 11.8 per cent for the same period last year. The increase is partly a result of higher volumes to established customers in the Norwegian part of the business as well as new sales to customers, particularly in the Swedish operation.

German based supplier of Components, ZEGO Aktiengesellschaft (formerly known as ACG Advanced Component Group AG), announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Stephen Griffiths, will leave the company at the end of the month.
May 11, 2006 15:23 (evertiq)
Mr. Griffiths started working for AZEGO in 2002, since 1.11.2002 he has been Board Member (CFO). In the last three years he successfully pursued and implemented strict cost-saving measures. These included a significant reduction of the operating and head-office function expenses, the divestiture of unprofitable subsidiaries in Germany and abroad, and a major rationalization of the group with the dismantling of the former holding-structure.
To finalize some of these restructuring measures and to prepare the 2005 financial statements, Mr. Griffiths had accepted the Supervisory Board's request for a temporary extension of his contract which originally ended on December 31st, 2005.
The Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors thank Mr. Griffiths for his successful work during the last years.

In a further measure to rationalize expense- and management structures, the company's Supervisory Board intends to reduce the number of Board Members. A direct replacement for the Board position of Mr. Griffiths will therefore not be made. Until the necessary change in the company's statutes can be adopted at the company's Annual General Meeting in late July, the Supervisory Board will appoint a temporary member of the Board.

Sanmina-SCI shed 20 workers at its Enclosure plant in Forserum, Sweden.
May 10, 2006 19:02 (evertiq)
The Forserum local management is expecting a slow down in orders and higher costs for the plant this coming autumn.

Sources tell evertiq that Sanmina-SCI is doing very well in their other two plants in Sweden.

elcoElektronikai Kft, an Austrian owned EMS-provider based in Hungary, is constructing a new plant in Liska, Hungary.
May 09, 2006 07:59 (evertiq)
SelcoElektronikai Kft is making an investment worth 500.000 Euro in which the company will build a 2,200-sqm manufacturing plant in Ajka, Hungary.

Selco Elektronikai Kft. Was founded in 2004 by Seidel Holding GmbH and Mr. Andreas Liska.

The aim of the company is, on one hand, to support the Joint-Venture partner in projects with high pricing pressure with economic production, and on the other hand to develop an aspiring and independent enterprise in Ajka which offers its services to customers in German-speaking countries and in the new EU member states.

Die Seidel group - especially Seidel Elektronik GmbH Nfg. KG with its headquarters in Deutschlandsberg, Austria - has developed from a classical contract manufacturer to a supplier of electronic and mechatronic systems.

Seidel Elektronik is one of the market leaders among independent contract manufacturers in Austria and is pursuing the expansion of its market with the help of the Joint Venture.

FCI has named Abacus "Design-in Distributor of the Year" following a year in which the Distributor also showed continuous sales growth and achieved the No 1 sales position in FCI 's Distribution Network.
May 09, 2006 09:37 (evertiq)
"The Abacus Group has demonstrated exceptional focus on developing and growing their business with FCI through identifying and meeting customer application requirements for connectors" commented Gavin Darling, Distribution Manager for FCI. "The Abacus Group's dedication to technical support and exceptional customer service has meant that together we have worked closely with customers to enable them to benefit fully from our innovative technologies"

Nick Leppard, Emech Specialist, at Abacus Polar added, "We have had a close and exceptionally positive

Arrow Electronics has been awarded the franchise to supply NKK Nikkai's complete range of switches across northern Europe.
May 09, 2006 15:47 (evertiq)
The agreement extends an already highly successful relationship between Arrow and NKK Switches in North America and elsewhere in Europe.

Arrow will address a wide range of markets with NKK's families of pushbutton, toggle, rocker, slide and tactile switches, both in standard and illuminated versions. Initial targets will include audio/video, broadcast, telecom, communications, medical, military and aerospace sectors. Training has been completed for Arrow's staff who can now offer access to over 80 product families with over 4 million switch combinations.

Mrs. Dr. Monika Reintjes has been named new Managing Director for Solectron Germany GmbH. Solectron Germany's previous Managing Director, Dr. Thomas Maile, will change his role to be Manager for Solectron in Budapest, Hungary.
May 09, 2006 15:58 (Elektronik Praxis)
In her new position Mrs. Dr. Reintjes is responsible for the overall business in Germany. Dr. Reintjes has been with Solectron since January 2000. She has held a number of management positions within the company. Dr. Reintjes reports to Hamid Halfaoui, senior Vice President Solectron EMEA.

The two companies will leverage their complementary strengths to provide high-performing and cost-effective integrated antenna solutions.

"Flextronics is a global leader in electronic manufacturing services with a network of facilities in over 30 countries on five continents," stated Greg McCray, Chief Executive Officer of Antenova. "Flextronics' model of vertically integrating design, engineering and manufacturing resources with component offerings is the ideal approach to implementing the antenna early in the design cycle and achieving the maximum benefits from our HDA™ antenna technology. The small size, high efficiency and superior detuning characteristics of Antenova's HDA™ technology make it the optimal solution for high volume handset development and allows Flextronics

Kimball Electronics Group, Inc., through its related subsidiaries, announced today that the Company has entered into an agreement with Magna Donnelly to produce printed circuit board assemblies. Kimball Electronics Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Kimball International, Inc., is a global contract electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company that specializes in durable electronics with applications in the automotive, medical, industrial controls, and public safety industries.
Under the terms of the agreement, Kimball Electronics acquired Magna Donnelly's PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly operation in Longford, Ireland. The two companies have agreed to combine their efforts in a long term manufacturing strategy to support the needs of the Magna Donnelly automotive mirror business.

Jahnichen a signé un accord avec la société italienne AsiaTronix, importateur de composants de protection fabriqués en Asie, pour la distribution en France de tels composants. Les fabricants sont basés en Chine, à Taiwan et au Japon. Ils produisent des composants de protection contre les surintensités, les surtensions et les élévations de température. Créée en juillet 2005, AsiaTronix dispose d'un stock central à Milan, s'appuie aujourd'hui sur un réseau de 10 distributeurs et 2 agents, et couvre 20 pays européens.

LONDON — The management team of distributor BFi OPTiLAS has completed a buy out of the company which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Avnet Corp for over 10 years following the acquisition of BFI Ibexsa in 1995 and its subsequent merger with Optilas in 1998.
It has operated as a completely autonomous organization within Avnet's European Electronics Marketing Group.
BFi OPTiLAS's management team engaged independent private equity firm, Activa Capital, in order to acquire a majority stake in the company. Activa Capital manages over €185million Euros of investments. Avnet will retain a minority stake in the company.
BFi OPTiLAS will continue to expand its operation as a pan European distributor of products and services for the electronic and photonic market places. The company focuses on niche technology products such as magnetic materials, lasers, sensors, connectors, electro-optics, imaging, fibre optics, RF and microwave components, systems and assemblies. The company operates from 12 offices throughout Europe, employing 300 staff.