Cognex buys DVT

US vision system supplier Cognex has acquired DVT Corporation, a privately-held company based in Duluth, GA, for $115 million.

Cognex plans to maintain operations at DVT’s current facility in GA, and to continue selling and supporting DVT’s vision products through DVT's existing third-party distribution channel.

DVT Corporation builds vision sensors, which it sells primarily to the factory-floor segment of the machine vision business. The company’s principal product, Legend, is used by a number of customers in a variety of industries for applications such as inspection and quality control.

"With the acquisition of DVT, Cognex immediately gains a worldwide network of more than 150 additional industrial distributors, all fully trained in selling and supporting machine vision products," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman and CEO of Cognex.

As a result of the acquisition, Cognex expects an increase in its revenue of approximately $15 - $20 million during fiscal year 2005.

The acquisition is expected to be neutral to earnings in 2005, and accretive, even including acquisition charges, in fiscal year 2006. Due to the late timing of the transaction, Cognex expects the acquisition to have minimal impact on its second quarter results.