Bain to sell electronic connectors maker FCI Asia for $1.28b

Bain Capital Europe acquired FCI from Areva in 2005 at an enterprise valuation of EUR1.01 billion ($1.13 billion). According to unquote", AVCJ's Europe-focused sister publication, the deal was supported by EUR695 million in debt.

At the time, the company was headquartered in France and was arguably best known for supplying interconnection systems to the motorized vehicles market. The private equity firm repositioned the business to focus on Asia as well as on higher-growth industry verticals.

Speaking to AVCJ in 2013, Dwight Poler, a managing director with Bain, said: "It was based in France, served very cyclical end markets in automotive and technology, and the financing markets didn't like it all. We worked with each division, sold two of them to trade buyers and one to a sponsor, and the fourth, supplying components to the automotive industry, we have transformed to an Asian company serving its key customers."

The divestments included selling the motorized vehicles division to global auto parts player Delphi for EUR765 million in 2012. A year earlier, the division that made microconnectors for bank cards and SIM cards was offloaded to Astorg Partners for a reported EUR650 million.

FCI, now headquartered in Singapore and with around 7,400 employees worldwide, is expected to generate sales of $600 million in 2015 and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20%. More than two thirds of the company's revenue in 2014 came from the data and communications sectors. Nearly two thirds came out of Asia Pacific.

"FCI has enormous technological capabilities in the development of high-speed, input-output, power and miniaturized interconnect products. FCI's strong offering will allow us to deliver a much wider range of high technology solutions to our respective customers in a broad array of end markets," said R. Adam Norwitt, president and CEO of Amphenol, in a statement.

Amphenol is one of the world's largest manufacturers of electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas, sensors and sensor-based products and high-speed specialty cable. The company reported sales of $5.3 billion in 2014, up from $4.6 billion the previous year, while net income rose to $709 million from $636 million.

China accounted for 27% of Amphenol's sales in 2014, compared to 31% for the US and 42% for other markets.

The acquisition of FCI is subject to various regulatory and other approvals. It is expected to close by the end of 2015. Amphenol will finance the deal through a combination of cash and debt.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Industrials
• Europe
• Southeast Asia
• Greater China
• Trade sale
• Bain Capital Asia
• Europe
• China
• Asia
• Singapore
• manufacturing
• Exit