Sweden’s Saab AB recently said it has completed its acquisition of Sensis Corp., marking the company’s first purchase of a company in the United States.
The deal was approved by the U.S. Trade Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
Saab said it paid about $150 million to acquire Sensis and has agreed to pay up to $40 million more in earn-out fees.
Saab Sensis will operate as a U.S. subsidiary within Saab Group. Saab Sensis had $173 million in sales for the fiscal year that ended in June 2010 and has about 600 employees. The company does about 70 percent of its business in the air traffic management area and most of the rest in radar systems. Most of its business is in the United States but it has a global customer base, including 54 of the world’s 100 largest airports.
“This acquisition is in line with our ambition to focus on selected markets and grow our core business,” Hakan Buskhe, Saab’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Saab Sensis’ offering and their strong local presence in the U.S. within radar and sensors and a world leading position in the air traffic management market is an excellent complement to our operations. In addition, we also see good potential to expand the company’s existing product portfolio, leveraging other Saab technology such as our C4I solutions, to further increase our reach into the U.S. defense market.