TAIPEI, Taiwan – Advantech announced yesterday that it entered into an agreement, subject to customary closing conditions, to acquire B+B SmartWorx Inc., a privately-held company based in Ottawa, IL, for US$99.85 million.
B+B SmartWorx will be led by the current management team and will join Advantech’s Industrial IoT Business Group in developing new products and integrating global sales resources. With this acquisition, Advantech will expand its Industrial Connectivity product portfolio and increase its global market share by leveraging B+B SmartWorx’ branding and sales channels in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
“Industrial Connectivity is a key to the development of Industrial IoT,” said KC Liu, Chairman of Advantech.
“B+B SmartWorx has had a high level of Industrial Connectivity expertise for many years, and has strong teams in the U.S. and Europe. With the acquisition of B+B SmartWorx, Advantech expects to develop its Industrial Wired Networking & Fiber Infrastructure, and Industrial Wireless Connectivity Solutions product divisions, and to accelerate the expansion of the Industrial IoT channel business with a target of becoming a leader in the Industrial Networking area.”
Jerry O’Gorman, CEO of B+B SmartWorx, commented on the acquisition, “B+B Smartworx has enjoyed a long and fruitful association with Advantech. We are really pleased to join such a strong global leader in the industry. We share a common strategic view on the future of the Industrial IoT market. Our focus on ‘Edge Intelligence’ with our new routers and gateways, together with our Wzzard wireless sensing systems, are a perfect complement to Advantech’s WISE platform.”
“Additionally, our channel forces in the U.S. and Europe are complementary to Advantech’s positioning in Asia. We look forward to serving our many customers with a combined vast offering of products and solutions.”
Advantech was advised by KPMG Deal Advisory Limited, and B+B SmartWorx was advised by Lincoln International LLC. The transaction is expected to close in 2016Q1.
