Deal Watch: Infrared meets imaging in FLIR deal


DealWatch_flircameraDON’T LOOK for any grand strategy shifts or flashy new markets behind FLIR Systems’ recent acquisition of the Colorado imaging firm Salvador Imaging.

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BY JON BELL

DealWatch_flircamera

 

DON’T LOOK for any grand strategy shifts or flashy new markets behind FLIR Systems’ recent acquisition of the Colorado imaging firm Salvador Imaging.

Despite the fact that Salvador counts veterinary X-rays and semiconductor device inspection among its specialties, FLIR’s vice president of corporate strategy, Tony Trunzo, says those are niche markets that will remain as such.

Instead, Trunzo says FLIR dropped $13 million in cash for the 30-person company as a way to vertically integrate Salvador’s sophisticated low-light cameras and technology.

“Our acquisitions take two to three different forms,” Trunzo says. “Some add distribution, some add to our product line, but the most common is vertical integration. I’d say this is a pretty good example of that strategy, and it’s reflective of what we’ve been doing with our (acquisitions) over the past few years.”

Salvador specializes in low-light video cameras that run at speeds in excess of 100 million frames per second. The cameras are able to create visible images in color or monochrome with very low levels of light.

That will come in handy for FLIR’s Commercial Vision Systems division, especially in the low-light security sector.

“With infrared, you can’t ID things,” says Trunzo. “With low-light imaging, you’re able to, for example, read a license plate in the dark. This gives us an in-house source of those types of cameras.”

Wilsonville-based FLIR, which had revenues of $1.1 billion in 2008, will work on fusing its infrared capabilities with Salvador’s imaging technology in an effort to expand security and surveillance offerings to commercial customers. Trunzo says FLIR also hopes to do with low-light imaging what it’s done with infrared: lower the price.

“We ultimately see this as having substantial commercial applications,” Trunzo says, “and we also believe we can take this technology and drive down the cost like we’ve done with infrared.”

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
PRICEBUYER / PARENT (HQ)REAL ESTATE (LOCATION) / SELLER (HQ)ANNOUNCED
$55MShin-Etsu Handotai Group (Japan)174 acres industrial (Vancouver)/Hewlett Packard (CA)6/26
$6.2MDutton Acquisitions (Portland)126,338 sq. ft. industrial building (Portland)/Realty Associates Fund VI (MA)6/22
$4MColumbia Crest Townhomes (Portland)Columbia Crest apartments (Troutdale)/Columbia Crest Apartments (Portland)6/22
$1.7MWestmoreland Apartments (Portland)16-unit apartment complex (Portland)/R& A Husari (Portland)6/22
$1.2MDECCA Hardwood (Portland)12,000 sq. ft. building (Newberg)/Nilles Family Trust (Newberg)6/22
$1.1M434 Investors LLC (Portland)3,100 sq. ft. retail property (Hat Creek Cattle (Portland)6/1
$897,000Lady of America (MD)office property (Beaverton)/9550 Property (Portland)6/30
NDAspire Business Group (Bend)National Fitness & Racquetball Club (Bend)/Israel Love (Bend)6/15
NDJolyn of Gladstone (Gladstone)1,800 sq. ft. retail (Portland)/Nasian (Gladstone)6/30

CAPITAL RAISING AND CONTRACTS
PRICE (TYPE)COMPANY (HQ) / LEADERSHIPINVESTOR (HQ)ANNOUNCED
$87M (TARP funds for renegotiating mortgages)Wilshire Credit (Beaverton)/Jay MemmotU.S. Treasury6/24
$17M (hydroelectric plant loan)Central Oregon Irrigation DistrictOregon Dept. of Energy6/1
$16.8M (renewable energy stimulus funds)State of OregonU.S. Dept. of Energy6/26
$14M (pipe orders)Northwest Pipe (Vancouver)/Brian DunhamAmes Construction (UT) and SJ Louis Construction (TX)6/3
$13.4M (Astoria-Megler bridge contract)Abhe & Svoboda (MN)/Gail SvobodaODOT6/2
$11M (pipe order)Northwest Pipe (Vancouver)/Brian DunhamOscar Renda Contracting (TX)6/8
$7.3M (credit facility)Merix (Beaverton)/Michael BurgerIndustrial and Commercial Bank of China (China)6/29
$7M (pipe order)Northwest Pipe (Vancouver)/Brian DunhamSlayden Construction Group (Stayton)6/4
$3.9M (bridge re-routing contract)High Desert Aggregate & Paving (Redmond)/Michael MooreODOT and Federal Highway Commission6/16
$3.7M (reservoir contract)Nutter (Vancouver)/Jerry NutterCity of Portland6/4
$3.4M (building demo and construction contract)S&B James Construction Management (White City)/Tom HallDepartment of Veterans Affairs (Portland)6/19
$2M (venture funding)Reductive Labs (Portland)/Luke KaniesTrue Ventures (CA)6/24
$1.9M (traffic signal replacement contract)Cherry City Electric (Salem)/Ray EllisOregon Transportation Commission6/23
$471,500 (dredging contract)Nehalem River Dredging (Nehalem)/Vern ScovellU.S. Army Corps of Engineers6/29
$390,700 (stimulus grant)West Salem Clinic (Salem)/Paul LoganU.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development6/11
$290,000 (fish passage contract)R.L. Reimers Company (Albany)/Ronald ReimersU.S. Dept. of Agriculture6/1
$196,000 (helicopter services contract)Hillsboro Aviation (Hillsboro)/Max LyonsU.S. Dept. of the Interior6/3
$155,000 (pedestrian bridge contract)Civil Construction (The Dalles)/Paul WolfCity of Tualatin6/16
ND (multimillion dollar investment)PV Powered (Bend)/Gregg PattersonEvans Renewable Holdings (Vancouver)6/1

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
PRICEEXP. CLOSEBUYER / PARENT (HQ)SELLER / PARENT (HQ)ANNOUNCED
$13MQ2FLIR Systems (Portland)Salvador Imaging (CO)6/11
$4MQ2FEI (Hillsboro)JFTech (Australia)6/15
NDQ2Delap (Lake Oswego)Symonds Evans & Co (Portland)6/1
NDQ2John L. Scott Real Estate (WA)Persimmon Realty (Gresham)6/29
NDQ3Rivermark Community Credit Union (Beaverton)Oregon Territory Federal Credit Union (Salem)6/17
NDQ2Vyant Technologies (Eugene)Oldfield’s Appliance and Home Theater (Eugene) and Wolf Security (Eugene)6/11