SenDEC, No. 1 on Top 100, bought by API Technologies
Matthew Daneman – Staff writer
Business – January 11, 2011 - 5:00am
Electronics manufacturer SenDEC Corp., the Perinton company that topped the 2010 Rochester Top 100 list of the region’s fastest-growing private companies, is being acquired by another electronics company.
Days after SenDEC was unveiled last fall as No. 1, CEO Kenton W. Fiske kept a pledge he had made to the employees and transported the entire work force of more than 200 people to the Riverside Convention Center for the annual Top 100 celebratory luncheon, where they cheered when they were recognized.
Though SenDEC won’t be eligible for the Top 100 again — companies have to be independent and not subsidiaries of other firms — it appears that SenDEC’s future is bright as part of API Technologies Corp.
The new ownership shouldn’t mean any changes in the Perinton operations, said Brian Kahn, managing partner of a private equity firm, Vintage Capital Management LLC, which is the third player involved in Monday’s complex transaction.
“Everyone is going to keep their jobs,” Kahn said. “We want (SenDEC) to keep doing what they’ve been doing. They’re a leg under the stool.”
The other two legs are Orlando, Fla.-based Vintage and Chicago-based API Technologies.
Under the three-way deal, API acquires 100 percent of the equity of SenDEC, which includes SenDEC’s manufacturing operations and $30 million in cash. Vintage then gets 22 million newly issued shares of API common stock, making it the majority stakeholder in the merged company.
Kahn will take over as chairman and CEO of API, while Fiske will stay on as head of SenDEC and will join the board of API.
Fiske did not return a call seeking comment Monday. But in a statement, he said the deal creates “a truly diversified defense electronics company. … My whole team is confident about our future and the ability of our company to fulfill our customers’ current and future needs.”
Much of SenDEC’s electronics manufacturing is done for defense contractors. API designs and manufactures electronics used by the military and in aerospace. It has facilities on Long Island and in Canada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and the United Kingdom.
According to API, SenDEC finished its most recent fiscal year in July with about $90 million in sales and $3.5 million in profit. API reported sales of $68.5 million and a $9 million loss during its fiscal year that ended in May.
The two companies “are a very good fit for each other,” Kahn said. “They have a lot of complementary capabilities. Where SenDEC may provide one piece of the supply chain on a program, API may provide some other piece.
“More than anything, you’re strengthening that relationship with the customer. You’re providing them with subsystems where they’re dealing with one vendor.”
Once the deal is finalized, API plans to pursue having its stock listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Currently, API shares are traded over the counter, a less visible form of stock trading.
API shares closed Monday at $5.40, up $1.25, or more than 30 percent.
Companies at the top of the Top 100 have a history of being snapped up.
Ecovation Inc. of Victor, the No. 1 company in 2007, was acquired by EcoLab Inc. of Minnesota in 2008 for $210 million.
Sporting Dog Specialties Inc., a large catalog retailer of pet supplies that was the No. 1 company in 1992, eventually was bought by national retailer PetSmart Inc., which in 2008 closed its Brockport facilities.
CVC Inc., a maker of equipment for the semiconductor industry and No. 1 in both 1997 and 1998, was purchased in 2000 and no longer has any local workers.
MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
API Technologies Corp.
What it does: Electronic components and systems manufacturing.
Headquarters: Chicago.
Year founded: 1981.
CEO: Phillip DeZwirek.
Employees: About 600.
Financials: $68.5 million in annual sales, $9 million loss.
Web: www.apitech .com.
SenDEC Corp.
What it does: Electronics contract design, engineering and manufacturing.
Headquarters: 72 Perinton Parkway, Perinton.
Year founded: 1976.
CEO: Kenton W. Fiske.
Employees: 200-plus.
Financials: About $90 million in annual sales, $3.5 million profit.
Web: www.sendec .com.
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