SCHAUMBURG, IL -- The Hunter has become the hunted. A Sparton subsidiary has completed a merger with Hunter Technology for $55 million in cash, subject to certain and conditional post-closing adjustments.

Sparton could pay an additional $13 million, based on revenue achieved over a base value of $82 million in the 12 months following closing. The EMS company expects Hunter to be accretive to earnings by the end of the current quarter once integration activities are complete. 

Hunter has operations in Milpitas, CA, and Lawrenceville, GA, Hunter was founded in 1968 and specializes in building for the military and aerospace sectors. Over the past few years it acquired Spinnaker Microwave, NBS Design in Santa Clara and Spectral Response, outside Atlanta. It has also been involved in multiple spinoffs and repurchases of its bare printed circuit board fabrication business.

Hunter has annual sales of $80.5 million and a historical EBITDA margin of 11.3%. Hunter is Sparton's 14th acquisition since 2010 and puts it close to its goal of reaching $500 million in revenue and double-digit EBITDA. 

"Their current ramping of new business as well as a solid new business development pipeline has us optimistic about the first year’s potential revenue upside," said Cary Wood, president and CEO of Sparton.  

The additional payout for Hunter will be paid on a linear scale up to $120 million in revenue. Sparton did not disclose the precise relationship between the newly acquired unit's revenue and the payout.

"The addition of Hunter Technology meets the criteria of our growth strategy by providing further expansion regionally into Northern California, diversifying our customer base through both existing programs and a strong business development pipeline, increasing our engineering service capabilities and NPI offerings, and continuing to increase the number of complex sub-assembly and full device programs within Sparton,"  Wood said. "Additionally, they bring solid, long-term customer relationships that we believe will utilize Sparton’s expanded list of service offerings such as our low cost country footprint in Vietnam and full complement of engineering design capabilities.”

"We are looking forward to combining forces with Sparton and taking the next step in the evolution of Hunter Technology,” said Hunter president Joe O’Neil. “We believe our growth will be accelerated with the additional support, enhanced capabilities, and global reach Sparton has to offer to our existing and future customers while providing Sparton with a regional presence of design and manufacturing services focused on integrated system functionality for critical, high-reliability applications in similar end-markets.”

Wood also announced new credit facilities in the amount of $275 million led by BMO Harris Bank to support operating needs future acquisitions. 

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