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$1.7bn deal creates ‘one of world’s biggest sensor companies’

25 June, 2014

Swiss-based TE Connectivity is buying the US sensor-maker Measurement Specialities for $1.7bn to create “one of the largest sensor companies in the world”. TE – formerly Tyco Electronics – says that the deal will add almost $40bn to its addressable market and produce double-digit growth in its sensors business.

TE Connectivity CEO Tom Lynch describes the acquisition as “a key part of our strategy to be a leader in the very attractive, high-growth sensor industry… It enables TE to provide customers with an unmatched range of connectivity and sensor solutions that are essential in a world where everything is increasingly connected.

“We look forward to combining Measurement Specialties' strong breadth of products and technologies with our deep customer relationships and global scale,” he adds.

Measurement Specialities offers a wide range of sensors for measuring variables such as position, force, vibration, temperature, and pressure. Its sensing technologies include Mems (microelectromechanical systems), piezoelectronic polymers, linear and rotary variable differential transformers, electromagnetic displacement devices, and ultrasonic and optical sensors. It is expected to generate revenues worth $540m in its current fiscal year, with its sales split largely between the industrial and automotive sectors, which each account for 39% of its business.

TE’s sensor business has so far focussed on position and pressure sensing technologies and it has doubled in size to around $200m since 2010. Although TE’s sensors business is dwarfed by its $10bn connectivity activities, the company argues that sensors and connectors have common customers and end markets.

TE Connectivity says that the global sensors market has synergies with its existing business

The global sensor market is forecast to grow from $80bn this year to $116bn by 2019. It is currently fragmented with few large suppliers.

Measurement Specialties’ CEO, Frank Guidone, points out that the sensor market is “quite strong, with both the number of applications and the content per unit increasing every year. We are excited to expand our product offerings to customers around the world through TE's unparalleled go-to-market capabilities. We look forward to working with TE toward a seamless integration for our customers and employees, and becoming the supplier of choice for customers' sensing requirements.”

TE Connectivity is a $13bn business with close to 90,000 employees in more than 50 countries. Measurement Specialities has around 4,000 employees.




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