Astronics To Buy EADS North America Test And Services Division

(RTTNews) - Astronics Corp. (ATRO), a provider of advanced technologies for the global aerospace and defense industries, announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets and liabilities of EADS North America's Test and Services division or EADS T&S for about $53 million in cash plus a net working capital adjustment.

The agreement is expected to close in February, subject to normal closing requirements including Hart-Scott-Rodino approval. Upon closing, EADS T&S will be reported in Astronics' Test Systems segment.

EADS T&S, located in Irvine, California, is a leading provider of highly engineered automatic test systems (ATS), subsystems and instruments for the semi-conductor, consumer electronics, commercial aerospace and defense industries. EADS T&S provides fully customized testing systems and support services for these markets. It also designs and manufactures test equipment under the well-respected test instrument brands known as Racal and Talon.

EADS T&S had 2013 sales of about $70 million. Sales for 2014 for the business are expected to be about $100 million.