Walter Capital Partners’ Portfolio Company Averna Expands its Asian and North American Footprint with the Acquisition of Global Equipment Services from Kimball Electronics
600 new employees will be based in Asia and the U.S., with offices in Vietnam, China, India, Japan and Silicon Valley
Walter Capital Partners’ portfolio company Averna, a leading global test & quality solutions provider, announced the acquisition of Global Equipment Services, Inc. (GES), a division of Kimball Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq: KE) specialized in automation, test and measurement solutions for industries such as consumer electronics, semiconductor and medical devices.
This strategic acquisition combines both companies’ strengths and footprint to create one of the largest independent system integrators in test automation with 1,200 employees across 20 offices within 11 countries. New Averna locations will include Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Suzhou, China; Trivandrum, India; Tokyo, Japan and San Jose, United States with technical support in the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand.
“As our global customers’ operations spread across all continents, it was important for us to join forces with the right team and establish a significant presence in diverse geographies in Asia,” explains François Rainville, President and CEO of Averna. “With this acquisition, Averna now has a solid footprint in the Americas, Europe and Asia where the majority of our customers’ research & development and manufacturing activities are taking place. Combine that with the in-depth automation, vision and test engineering capabilities of the team and their impressive client database, GES was clearly the right fit.”
GES customers include both Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) as well as their Contract Manufacturers (CMs). Core technical capabilities include optical metrology and defect detection, image processing/software, and micro-alignment of components/parts for products. GES offers a wide scope of automation and inspection equipment, including functional testing, cosmetic inspection, and assembly applications across all markets.
“Being part of Kimball Electronics, we have been exposed to many large-scale projects,” said Chris Thyen former Vice President, New Platforms at GES and now Vice-President, Averna APAC. “By joining forces with Averna, not only will we be exposed to a new landscape of test, but we can share our expertise in different areas of quality innovation.”
This acquisition solidifies Averna as a leader in test, measurement, and quality. By adding over 160,000 ft² of new manufacturing space, including class 100K and 10K clean rooms, Averna is solidly prepared to take on large customer challenges, anywhere in the world.
Averna’s main shareholder Walter Capital Partners, participated in the negotiation of this acquisition with the support of other significant shareholders. These include Investissement Québec and W Investments Group LP. This investment is consistent with their objective to further the international expansion of high-performing Québec-based companies.
About Averna
As a global test & quality solution integrator, Averna partners with product designers, developers, and OEMs to help them achieve higher product quality, accelerate time to market and protect their brands. Founded in 1999, Averna offers specialized expertise and innovative test, vision inspection, precision assembly and automated solutions that deliver substantial technical, financial and market benefits for clients in the aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, energy, industrials, medical devices & life sciences, semiconductor, telecom and other industries. Averna has offices around the world, numerous industry certifications such as ISO 9001:2015, ITAR registration, and is partnered with NI, Eclipse Automation, PI, Keysight Technologies and JOT Automation. www.averna.com