Taiwan’s Adlink buys UK IoT specialist, PrismTech
The Taiwanese automation supplier, Adlink Technology, is buying the British IoT (Internet of Things) specialist PrismTech for a reported $16.6m. PrismTech, established in 1992, has about 70 employees and a turnover of around $10m. It will operate as a “semi-autonomous” business within Adlink.
Adlink supplies cloud-based services, intelligent gateways, and embedded building blocks for edge devices that enable the IoT. PrismTech has pioneered the development and implementation of Data Distribution Software (DDS) standards for the IoT. PrismTech’s global headquarters are located in Stirling, Scotland, and its European headquarters in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
The acquisition, strengthens Adlink’s position in the IoT, while the combination of the two companies’ hardware and software will allow them to create integrated edge platforms for vertical markets, reducing time to market.
“Adding horizontal IoT stack expertise to Adlink’s portfolio creates a unique opportunity to fully leverage [PrismTech’s] Vortex software and build competitive platforms for the industrial IoT,” says Adlink’s CEO, Jim Liu, who expects the first joint developments to emerge later in 2016.
“Furthermore,” he adds, “the synergy of this acquisition will allow PrismTech to extend their reach and compete on a global basis with the current Vortex product and new developments. The complementary products of Adlink and PrismTech with software and hardware provide all the building blocks for the next stage in industrial IoT development, addressing the issues of increasing complexity and mission-critical operational and management data.”
PrismTech’s CEO, Lawrence Ross, believes that the acquisition will be positive for his customers, employees and the future direction of PrismTech’s software products. “We have built a robust IoT infrastructure and data-connectivity platform over the last few years in our award-winning Vortex product line, and Adlink and PrismTech share a vision of the future and potential of the IIoT market,” he says. “We believe this acquisition will result in new innovative combinations of our products that can propel us to become the number one vendor in the vertical markets we jointly serve.”
