Cognex agrees to sell Surface Inspection Systems Division to AMETEK, Inc.

Cognex Corporation has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell the assets of its Surface Inspection Systems Division (SISD) to AMETEK, Inc. for approximately $160 million in cash.

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Following the completion of the deal, Cognex will schedule a conference call to discuss the sale and to provide updated financial guidance.

"The sale of our Surface Inspection Systems Division is a strategic decision for us," said Robert J. Willett, President and CEO of Cognex. "SISD is a profitable and well-managed business, but it does not fit Cognex's long-term objectives and business model. With this sale, we can focus all of our efforts on discrete manufacturing where we see continued strong growth for our vision and ID products."

In 2014, the surface inspection division account for $60 million in sales, or 12% of Cognex’s total revenue. The division develops and manufactures software-enabled vision systems used to inspect surfaces of continuously processed materials for flaws and defects. Applications and markets include metals, paper, nonwovens, plastics, and glass.

"Cognex entered the surface inspection market in 1996 with the acquisition of Isys Controls, Inc, a small company that had developed vision systems for automatically detecting and classifying flaws and defects on the surfaces of materials as they are being produced at high speed in a continuous fashion," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman and Chief Culture Officer of Cognex. "We are proud to have built this business from an organization which was primarily selling into the U.S. metals market, into a leading global supplier of surface inspection systems for metals, paper, plastics, nonwovens and glass."

The SISD business joins AMETEK’s Electronic Instruments Group (EIG), which had 2014 sales of $2.4 billion.

“We are excited about the opportunity to acquire such an outstanding business,” said Frank S. Hermance, AMETEK Chairman and CEO. “The Surface Inspection Systems Division of Cognex is a global leader in non-destructive process inspection and expands our presence in this attractive market segment. Among SISD’s strengths are its proprietary high-speed defect recognition technology, software algorithms and deep applications knowledge base.”

View a press release from Cognex.

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