Dalsa acquires competitor

17 Jun 2002

Dalsa, the Canadian manufacturer of high performance image sensors and line cameras, has bought a US competitor, Silicon Mountain Design, for USD 11.5 million.

Dalsa's image sensors and line cameras are used in machine vision applications, such as in the food industry and postal sorting equipment.

The acquisition broadens Dalsa's product range to include digital area cameras. Area CCD cameras are used, for example, in medical imaging, which Dalsa regards as an important market. "The acquisition extends our technology and also our customer base," commented Savvas Chamberlain, president of Dalsa.

The management structure of Silicon Mountain Design will remain. It has not yet been decided whether its name will change.

Prior to the acquisition, Dalsa had about 210 employees, with about one third of these working in research and development. Silicon Mountain Design brings another 30 or 40 people to the company. "We aim to grow by between 30 and 40% within the next 3 to 5 years," said Chamberlain. He indicated that this will involve further acquisitions.