CHICAGO -- EMS mergers and acquisition activity slipped in the third quarter, as just six deals were completed, down from 14 a year ago. "Overall the economic conditions have heavily affected M&A activity within the EMS sector," says Lincoln International, a company that specializes in industry transactions.

Among the deals during the quarter, Eolane acquired Groupe Martec, Alliance Holdings acquired Spectral Response; an LM Ericsson subsidiary acquired certain assets of Elcoteq’s Tallinn, Estonia, operations; and Orbit One bought WEGA Electronics. Half the transactions took place in Europe, two in North American and one in Asia.

Quoting Electronic Trend Publications' data, Lincoln said the global EMS market is expected to grow 8.1% annually from a $294 billion in 2008 to a $435 billion market in 2013.