Electronics manufacturing company Solectron Corp. Tuesday said has acquired privately-owned Magnetic Data Technologies (MDT) for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition is part of Milpitas, Calif.-based Solectron’s strategy to expand its after-sales service presence in commodity segments, such as printed circuit board assemblies, liquid crystal displays and hard-disk drives, to provide complete systems solutions to customers.
Founded in 1982, Goleta, Calif.-based MDT is among the oldest independent service companies to the computer, data storage and telecommunications industries. Its customers include Hewlett-Packard , Western Digital Corporation, Hitachi, Quantum, Philips, EMC
, Iomega, NEC, Nokia, Samsung, Yamaha and 3Com
MDT brings to Solectron worldwide logistics and contract repair for disk drives, printers, tape drives, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD drives, cellular and mobile phones, pagers, digital telephone sets, routers and other network infrastructure equipment, LCD projectors and computer printed circuit boards.
“MDT has a strong history of delivering high-quality repair services, has a good customer base and has grown steadily over the past several years,” said MDT chairman and CEO Steven Walleck. “The acquisition will broaden Solectron’s customer base and its capabilities, and together, we will be able to gain significant new customer wins and provide more comprehensive after-sales services for existing customers.”
Prior to the acquisition, Dubilier & Company, a New York-based investment firm, controlled MDT. Alliant Partners initiated this transaction and acted as financial advisors to MDT and Dubilier & Company.
“This acquisition further strengthens our industry leading position in after-sales services and establishes Solectron as one of the world’s largest independent providers of hard-disk drive screening and repair services, a market we have been targeting for growth,” said Solectron executive vice president and president of Global Services Bill Mitchell. “The transaction expands our after-sales presence in Singapore and the MDT Chihuahua site complements our existing after-sales site in Guadalajara, providing lower-cost, fast-turn services for North America.”
Solectron Global Services provides a full range of after-sales services, including: product repair, upgrades, remanufacturing and maintenance through factory and fast-hub service centers located around the world; help-desk support through customer call-in centers for end-users; logistics and parts management; asset recovery; returns processing; warehousing; engineering change management and end-of-life manufacturing.
As a result of the transaction, Solectron becomes one of the world’s leading independent providers of magnetic and optical drive screening and repair services.
No word yet on how much of MDT’s workforce, including upper management, will mesh into Solectron’s 54,000 employee base.
