Adept succumbs, sells to OMRON for $200M

When Rob Cain replaced John Dulchinos as CEO of Adept Technology in February, 2013 he was charged with restructuring the company to either make it profitable to operate or make it valuable as a take-over. The latter happened today when Japanese OMRON announced plans to acquire Adept for $200 million.

The $200M all cash offer represents a 63% premium over the Adept market capitalization the day before the announcement.

Following the transaction, Rob Cain will continue to lead Adept but will report to the president of Omron Management Center of America, Inc., OMRON’s wholly owned United States subsidiary. An OMRON spokesman said of the transaction, “This acquisition is part of our strategy to enhance our automation technology and position us for long term growth. Robotics will elevate our offering of advanced automation.”

OMRON, a Kyoto-based global component manufacturer, integrator and provider of Delta, gantry and SCARA robots, as well as vision components and systems, employs over 39,000 people in 110 countries and has annual revenues of $7.3 billion, of which $2.7B was from their industrial automation business.

Adept on the other hand recently reported annual sales through June, 2015 of $54 million, as compared to $57.5M in 2014, $47M in 2013 and $66M in 2012. Adept is a US based manufacturer of industrial robots and mobile platforms.

On the news of the sale to OMRON, Adept’s stock rose to $12.93, a few pennies from the OMRON selling price of $13, and a 63% increase over yesterday’s closing price.

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• Adept Technologies: Ready to be acquired?
• Adept’s restructuring is paying off: earnings better and stock higher
• Management shakeup at Adept Technology

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.