ESI announces Efield acquisition

Last month, ESI Group said that it had opened a 7-year, €30 million credit facility to help fund its acquisition strategy — and today we learn of the second* deal under the new financing arrangement: the acquisition of Efield, a Swedish supplier of electromagnetic simulation.

[*When it announced the credit line in November, ESI said that the “first drawdown will take place immediately, for the acquisition of IC.IDO carried out in August.”]

Efield is a fascinating little company: In the mid-1990s, Saab (the aircraft systems group) determined that the simulation tools available at the time were insufficient to design stealth products, so started a research project with Ericsson to accurately solve electromagnetic problems for objects whose size was many times bigger than the wave length. Many PhD theses later, in 2006 the Efield AB was formed to commercialize the Efield product set. Today, Efield is used in antenna design; analysis of antennas on platforms such as vehicles, aircraft or ships; microwave design and to gauge electromagnetic interference.

ESI Group sees these solutions as becoming ever more important, saying that “these solutions, originally aimed at the aeronautical and defense sectors, are quickly becoming essential for the increasing proportion of manufactured products that incorporate mechatronics or electronic components …
This acquisition supplements ESI Group’s current electromagnetic offering, and addresses a fast-growing and increasingly regulated sector; one that is important because of the growing use of electronics in manufactured products.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Efield’s annual revenue was approximately €0.4 million in 2010, with significant proportion from repeat sales to existing clients, which include Saab AB, BAE Systems, Ericsson and the China Helicopter Institute. It has a staff of 5.

Alain de Rouvray, ESI Group’s Chairman and CEO, said in the press release about the deal: "This acquisition strengthens our positioning in virtual simulation of electromagnetic phenomena in areas such as active security in transport, interference in electronics, and stealth in defense. The action is fully in line with ESI Group’s strategy, which aims to continually enhance our expertise and our ability to deliver comprehensive End-to-End virtual prototyping solutions that are unique in the market."