HOVVAHGEN, SWEDEN -- Icape Group has signed a deal to acquire NTW, a Japanese distributor of PCBs in Asia. The deal is subject to customary suspensive conditions and is expected to take place on Sept. 19.

NTW serves large local industrial customers through its seven subsidiaries in Asia and expects revenue of over $20 million in 2024.

Icape will finance the acquisition in cash and it will be consolidated in starting in the fourth quarter 2024.

Founded in 2002, the NTW Group has a business model similar to that of Icape. Its subsidiaries are close to global PCB production centers in Japan, China and Southeast Asia. Its 40 employees serve a customer base of major Japanese accounts positioned in diverse industries, ranging from office automation to communication and infrastructure tools.

Icape said in a press release that the deal brings it a player with "proven and recognized expertise in the market" and "significant potential" for synergies in purchasing and marketing.

“The acquisition of the Japanese group NTW is significant in several ways," said Yann Duigou, CEO, Icape Group. "It ensures us a leading position in the distribution of printed circuit boards in Japan, a mature market and difficult to access for western companies due to cultural specificities. The group’s management will support us in this integration to enable us to deploy all the necessary synergies between our two organizations. This operation also gives us access to major Japanese groups that we did not address so far, while allowing us to integrate new suppliers, located in China and Southeast Asia. The completion of this operation, combined with our recent acquisitions, will enable us to achieve €45 million of additional revenue since 2023, which gives us confidence that we will achieve our external growth target by the end of 2026.”

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