Computers & Electronics 1997 - Company News Summary

Skillsgroup is selling Nordic Datadistribution, its Swedish PC distributor, to Atle for £10m, in order to focus on its IT training consultancy.
23-Dec-1997

Bowthorpe has acquired Western Pacific Data Systems, the Californian logistics software designer, for up to £38m.
18-Dec-1997

BCO Technologies, the Belfast-based semiconductor company, is planning to create 100 jobs in a £7.5m investment programme following a recent placing.
18-Dec-1997

Acer Peripherals is planning to build a £25m computer monitor plant in Cardiff, creating 1,000 jobs.
16-Dec-1997

Arlen is acquiring Plasmec, the electrical and electronic components manufacturer, for £11m.
12-Dec-1997

Cadence Design Systems of the US has confirmed plans to build a chip design centre at Livingston in Scotland, creating 1,800 jobs by 2004.
11-Dec-1997

ADI Manufacturing of Taiwan is to set up a £10.5m computer monitor plant at Cramlington near Newcastle upon Tyne, creating 600 jobs.
09-Dec-1997

FI Group is acquiring IIS Infotech, the Indian software house, for £22m.
05-Dec-1997

Racal Electronics is selling its Health & Safety face-masks business to 3M for £43m, as part of a strategy to focus on its core electronics and defence activities.
05-Dec-1997

Kewill Systems is to acquire Exeter Software, the US supplier of warehouse management systems, for an initial £8m.
28-Nov-1997

Matsushita of Japan has announced a £15m expansion at its Cardiff plant, where it will create 160 jobs at a new research and development centre.
27-Nov-1997

Avon Rubber is acquiring Zatec, the US maker of cleaning blades for fax machines and printers, for £7.5m.
26-Nov-1997

Datrontech is acquiring International Computer Products, the Dutch distributor of components and peripherals, for £7.9m.
25-Nov-1997

Cambridge Technology Partners of the US is acquiring Peter Chadwick Holdings, the UK-based IT consultancy, for about £77m.
18-Nov-1997

Computer Associates, the US software group, has chosen Datchet in Berkshire as the base for its European headquarters, where it will create an additional 500 jobs.
18-Nov-1997

BCO Technologies is planning to raise over £7m in a flotation, in order to help fund a Belfast factory that will make its electronics substrate and create 200 jobs.
03-Nov-1997

British Aerospace and Daimler-Benz are linking up to acquire Siemens' defence operations for about £420m, a move which will give BAe a role in the Archer consortium that is developing a new communications system for the armed forces.
31-Oct-1997

Pentland is selling Holmes, its US electrical goods business, to Berkshire Partners for about £104m, and will use the proceeds to invest in branded sportswear and leisurewear.
30-Oct-1997

ADI Corporation of Taiwan is expected to announce plans to set up a computer monitor factory in the north-east of England, creating 600 jobs.
28-Oct-1997

Cirqual is acquiring BWMP, the electronics company that makes a complex multilayer printed circuit board, for up to £36.4m.
17-Oct-1997

BTR is to acquire Exide Electronics, the US supplier of uninterruptible power-supply systems, for £360m.
17-Oct-1997

Deltron Electronics is acquiring Freber Electronik Leasing, the Swedish electronic components distributor, for £4.3m.
06-Oct-1997

NatWest Equity Partners has acquired Starpoint, the supplier of amusement machine parts, from Bowthorpe for £18.5m.
02-Oct-1997

Compel, the computer services company, is acquiring Abtex Systems for up to £4.5m.
01-Oct-1997

Shaker, a subsidiary of the ETI telecoms group, is acquiring Interoute Telecommunications, the telecoms operator, for about £25m.
27-Sep-1997

Metsin, a new company set up by Alchemy Partners, is planning to acquire Instem, the electronics and information systems company, for about £9.8m.
24-Sep-1997

Securicor is to sell the consumer and small business subscriber bases of Securicor Cellular Services to Cellnet, in which it has a 40% stake, for £38m, and has also announced the sale of Securicor 3net to Teltrend of the US for £9m.
24-Sep-1997

Granada has sold its computer services business, Granada Computer Services, to a management buy-out for £89m.
23-Sep-1997

Volex has won a major contract to supply cable assemblies to Ericsson, which will lead to the creation of 100 jobs in Manchester and 100 jobs in Ireland.
20-Sep-1997

4Front has acquired Firstpoint, the computer maintenance business, from Stratagem for an initial £2.5m.
13-Sep-1997

Misys is to acquire Medic Computer Systems, the US medical software company, for £566m, funded partly by a £321m rights issue.
06-Sep-1997

Pointfield is acquiring the Wharfedale loudspeakers business and the Quad hi-fi business from Verity for £4.8m, and Verity will take a 40% stake in Pointfield.
06-Sep-1997

Scottish Telecom, the Scottish Power communications business, is to combine its mobile services operation with the Scottish division of Martin Dawes Telecommunications enabling it to offer integrated fixed and mobile services and giving it access to Martin Dawes' advanced billing system.
02-Sep-1997

Laird Group has acquired Mimtec Electronics, the provider of assembly services to the Scottish computer industry, for £21m.
02-Sep-1997

British Telecom is to set up a £9m telephone-based sales centre in Belfast, which will also offer contract teleservices for other companies, creating 750 jobs.
27-Aug-1997

Toshiba is to expand production of microwave oven components and TV sets at its Plymouth factories, creating up to 100 jobs.
26-Aug-1997

Tatung of Taiwan is to double output at its factory in Telford, where it has started making a combined TV set and computer monitor, creating up to 100 jobs.
25-Aug-1997

GPT has won a £100m contract to support the Ministry of Defence's new fixed telephone system, creating 100 jobs in Coventry.
20-Aug-1997

Altatron of the US is to set up a £4.9m printed circuit board factory at Hamilton in Lanarkshire, creating 300 jobs.
12-Aug-1997

The government has given the go-ahead for a £1.5bn semiconductor plant on a greenfield site north of Birmingham which could create up to 4,800 jobs, and Philips is said to be one of the front-runners to invest at the site.
09-Aug-1997

Dage, the electronics company, has been sold to a management buy-in team with support from the Royal Bank of Scotland, for £23m.
05-Aug-1997

Logica is acquiring Aldiscon, the network systems company, for £51m, in order to help it "deploy repeatable software solutions in the telecommunications sector".
01-Aug-1997

Oki Electric of Japan is to focus production of plain paper faxes at its Cumbernauld factory near Glasgow, creating several hundred jobs.
22-Jul-1997

Onwa Electronics is to invest over £5.5m at its South Shields printed circuit board factory, creating 150 jobs.
18-Jul-1997

AEA Technology is acquiring Hyprotech, the Canadian producer of software for the design of oil and gas rigs, for £34m.
11-Jul-1997

London Bridge Software is acquiring Recovery Management System, the US maker of programs to recover consumer debts, for £21m.
02-Jul-1997

WPI Group of the US has acquired Husky Computers Group, the supplier of hand-held computers, from Peek for £10m.
24-Jun-1997

Microsoft has confirmed plans for a £50m computer science research laboratory in Cambridge, where it will also invest £10m in small high-tech start-ups.
18-Jun-1997

Seagate Technology is to set up a $220m computer disk drive factory in County Cork, Ireland, creating 1,000 jobs.
13-Jun-1997

CRT has acquired Software Design Associates, the IT consultancy, for £17m.
13-Jun-1997

Seagate is to invest £149m in the expansion of its wafer fabrication plant in Londonderry, creating 1,125 jobs.
07-Jun-1997

International Management Resources of Florida is to set up a software development centre in Belfast, creating 311 jobs for software professionals over the next three years.
03-Jun-1997

GPT, the telecoms equipment joint venture between GEC and Siemens, is looking to recruit 400 staff, including analysts, software developers and field engineers, in response to rising demand for advanced transmission systems at its sites in Coventry, Poole, Liverpool and Nottingham.
03-Jun-1997

Microsoft is planning to set up a research centre in Cambridge in collaboration with the university, its first such project outside the US.
02-Jun-1997

Bowthorpe is acquiring Adtech, the Hawaii-based digital test equipment concern, for £31m, as part of a plan to strengthen its telecommunications and power activities.
20-May-1997

Lynx Holdings has acquired Apex Computer Group, the provider of manufacturing and financial systems, for £10.6m.
09-May-1997

Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phone company, is moving its Business Unit Transport & Cable Networks business from Stockholm to Horsham, West Sussex.
07-May-1997

Computacenter, the computer systems and services concern, has announced plans to create a further 400 jobs this year, and it also aims to set up subsidiaries in France and Germany.
29-Apr-1997

Viasystems of the US has acquired Interconnection Systems, the Tyneside-based PCB producer, for undisclosed terms, and has set up a European HQ in London as it attempts to become the world's biggest producer.
26-Apr-1997

Compaq is to set up a £15m telephone call centre in Glasgow, creating 250 jobs.
19-Apr-1997

Scottish Power has sold IT Southern, the computer services division of its Southern Water acquisition, to ICL for £10.8m.
15-Apr-1997

Ionica, the telecommunications company that provides telephone services based on fixed radio links, is to set up a customer call centre in Birmingham with the creation of 600 jobs.
10-Apr-1997

Compaq is to create an additional 200 jobs at its Erskine computer plant near Glasgow.
09-Apr-1997

British Telecom is to set up two new telemarketing centres - in Doncaster and North Tyneside - each employing 1,000 people.
08-Apr-1997

Samsung is launching a recruitment drive to fill 200 new jobs at its three Teesside plants, which make microwave ovens, televisions and computer monitors.
03-Apr-1997

Amstrad is selling Dancall Telecom, its mobile telephone business, to Robert Bosch of Germany for £92m.
02-Apr-1997

Pegasus is acquiring CSM, the supplier of accounting software, from Microvitec for £6.7m.
21-Mar-1997

General Cable has acquired Imminus, the data networking group, for £33m, and aims to win a national telecoms licence in order to expand beyond its franchise areas.
14-Mar-1997

Forward Group, the printed circuit board company, is being acquired by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, the US buy-out specialist, for £129m.
04-Mar-1997

Sage has acquired KHK Software, the German accounting software concern, for £40m, giving it immediate leadership of the German market.
01-Mar-1997

Samsung is to extend its microwave oven factory in Teesside creating a further 35 jobs, and expects total employment at the electronics complex to rise from 800 to 3,000 by 2000.
28-Feb-1997

Nokia is to set up a £20m research and development facility in Farnborough, creating 600 jobs.
28-Feb-1997

Bull is launching an apprentice scheme in Norwich for systems engineers and plans to recruit at least 150 this year.
14-Feb-1997

Geoworks of the US has bought Eden Group, the UK software company, for £18m in order to develop its smart phones business.
14-Feb-1997

Cable & Wireless has ended its European telecommunications partnership with Veba by selling its stake in their Vebacom joint venture to the German company for £820m.
08-Feb-1997

Motorola is creating a further 300 jobs at its Swindon mobile communications factory following a rise in worldwide orders.
07-Feb-1997

Datrontech is acquiring RD Trading, the computer product recycling specialist, for £5m, and Xenon Holdings, the supplier of computer network services, for £3.7m.
22-Jan-1997

Olivetti is selling its PC division to Piedmont International, a new company set up for the purpose, for up to £116m, in order to focus on telecommunications.
21-Jan-1997

Computer Associates International is planning to set up a £100m European headquarters in Slough, which should create a "substantial" number of new jobs.
08-Jan-1997