FIMI Opportunity Funds, led by Ishay Davidi, is acquiring full ownership of US company Aitech, a global supplier of rugged electronics systems for the defense, aviation, and space industries. FIMI will buy 100% of the company's shares, which are held by a group of Dutch investors. FIMI is also likely to inject additional money into the company to support its accelerated growth.

FIMI's total investment in the acquisition will be $30 million, with most of this amount being given to the shareholders, and a smaller amount being injected into the company. Completion of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is slated for the coming weeks.

FIMI senior partner Gillon Beck said, "Aitech has proven innovative capability in the development of new products, which are scheduled to reach the market in 2018, and its orders backlog for the coming years has grown significantly. The company has had to reject projects because of the strong demand for its products.

"The deal is another of FIMI's measures for implementing its decision to make investments in foreign companies, in addition to its investments in Israeli companies (95% of its investments to date), and center the foreign companies' activity in Israel, as it has done in the past. FIMI intends to consolidate the administration of the company, which will operate worldwide from Israel."

Aitech, which was founded in 1983, has annual sales believed to be in the tens of millions of dollars, and makes a profit. With its staff of 170 employees (100 in the US and 70 more in Israel), the company designs, produces, and sells computer systems, power supplies, communications cards, and other products. Its products are designed and built to withstand extreme conditions, such as extreme heat and cold, earthquakes, high radiation levels, etc. Aitech's customers include some of the world's leading manufacturers of space systems and aviation defense systems, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1).

Aitech's products, which are installed in advanced air defense systems, military airplanes and helicopters, and space systems, are responsible for the operation of various critical systems. The company, managed by CEO Moshe Tal, is incorporated in the US, and operates at two main sites: one in California and one in Herzliya.

"We expect substantial growth in activity in the coming years"

Tal says, "Aitech is at an important breakthrough point. The company has developed a number of new products that are its growth engines, and its orders backlog has doubled, compared with the corresponding period in the preceding year. The fields of business in which Aitech is growing rapidly, including space, in which the company has unique know-how, constitute its main growth engine. We have no doubt that the transfer of the company to FIMI's ownership will enable it to take advantage of the growth potential in its market and its positioning in that market. We expect substantial growth in activity in the coming years, which will obviously be reflected in the company's results."

FIMI, founded in 1996, currently manages $5 billion in assets. The fund has acquired control of 87 companies to date, and has sold 56 of them in deals with an aggregate total of over $4.5 billion.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 8, 2018

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