China-based Johnson Electric announced that it has acquired 51% of Israeli start-up Nanomotion for $20 million in cash. Nanomotion develops and manufactures motors with the ability to achieve precise positioning, and markets them to the semiconductor and medical equipment industries.
Johnson Electric is a global leader in integrated motor systems. The company employs over 33,000 people in fourteen countries around the world. The company has design engineering centers in China, Japan, the US, Italy, and Hong Kong. Most of the company's workforce is in China.
The acquisition of Nanomotion is the first step in Johnson Electric's strategic plan to consolidate its status as a leader in the micro-motors field.
Nanomotion president and CEO Miko De-Levy said, "We are very pleased as Nanomotion is poised for huge growth because of our imminent entry into mass market applications. Johnson Electric provides us with the necessary marketing and high volume manufacturing strength to make that transition."
De-Levy said that Nanomotion had two categories of business: "The company provides precise systems solutions for the electronics and semiconductor industry, medical equipment, and automation in general. Our new field, which we will enter jointly with Johnson Electric, and in which the two companies will complement each other, is the consumer solutions market: scanners, cameras, mobile telephones, for example. We're only starting to address these markets, and Johnson Electric can promote our activity in the field through its marketing channels and large-scale manufacturing capability."