Italian firm completes purchase of Telford-based Accu-Sort from Danaher for $135 million

Tom Paine


Telford (Montgomery County) based Accu-Sort has been acquired by Datalogic S.p.A. of Italy from DC-based Danaher Corp. for $135 million. The deal, which was originally announced in November, closed on January 20.

Accu-Sort provides Auto ID Systems for the Material Handling Industry, including barcode systems, dimensioning systems, label print and apply systems, and sortation systems. It employs approximately 250 people. Founded in 1971, Accu-Sort holds about 80 patents. 57 of which are registered in the US. Some 79% of its revenue comes from the US, so further international expansion is a key opportunity. To that end, Accu-Sort opened new offices in China and India late last year.

In 2010, Accu-Sort generated revenue of $92.3 million, while in the first half of 2011 revenue was $51.4 million. The company has EBITDA margins of about 20%.

Datalogic says the acquisition will enable it to improve its global leadership in the industrial stationary scanners segment, with a market share of 31% compared to 16% previously.

Danaher, a $12.8 billion (revenue) industrial manufacturer, acquired Accu-Sort in 2003 for $63 million plus a potential earnout. At the time, Danaher cited Accu-Sort revenue as being about $90 million, so the company does not appear to have grown much over the past decade.



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