UL spin-out snapped up for €64m in buyout

Cork could become a global micro-chip design centre in the coming years following ROHM’s €63.8m buyout of Powervation.

The Japanese electronics powerhouse has parted with a large chunk of cash to snap up the former University of Limerick (UL) based chip manufacturer in what is the first ever major acquisition by a Japanese company of an Irish tech firm.

Powervation chief executive, Mike McAuliffe said yesterday’s announcement has been a long time coming but positions the company to scale up operations both in Cork and at its other base in San Jose.

“It’s been a long journey but today’s a good day for the company and for the Irish tech scene in general… Over time we expect to see benefits of scale and we would hope to see those complementary aspects but for the moment the company will be run as an individual business unit.

“We are maintaining Cork as the global design centre and in time we hope to bring on new products and expand into new markets,” Mr McAuliffe said.

The company which was founded in 2006 as part of a UL research project is a global leader in digital power management which is replacing the older analogue technology in which ROHM specialises.

Mr McAuliffe added that there was “absolutely” scope to significantly add to its current workforce of approximately 40 staff — 22 of which are based at its Blackrock office in Cork.

An additional team of ten or so are based in San Jose on the east coast of the US alongside customers such as Citco and Intel.

With strong links to the Tyndall Institute and University College Cork (UCC) as well as a large pool of skilled workers, Cork is the ideal location in which to locate its design centre, Mr McAuliffe said.

The Irish firm’s technology essentially manages power for computer and data systems in a more efficient manner than older analogue technology.

The strategic combination of Powervation’s digital platform with ROHM’s leading analogue power technology and global market access will enable the company address a broad range of fast growing market opportunities as customers increasingly adopt digital power solutions, Powervation said in a statement yesterday.

The appeal of Powervation to the Japanese electronics giant lies in that technology as ROHM looks to transition from its area of traditional strength as digital power continues to displace analogue.

“ROHM and Powervation share a common vision for the role of digital power technology in transforming the market with the next generation high performance power solutions,”said Mike Smith, ROHM USA senior vice president and general manager.

The deal in itself is somewhat unusual given Japanese companies’ general caution in mergers and acquisitions which they tend to complete within Asia as opposed to this far afield.

Meanwhile, the Irish translation software company, Iconic Translation Machines has announced that it is to add 15 additional employees to its workforce after closing a successful €400,000 seed funding round from investors which include Enterprise Ireland and also business angel investment from Bloom Equity and the Boole Investment Syndicate through the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN).