Cirtek inks $77m deal to buys US antenna supplier Quintel
LAGUNA-BASED electronics manufacturer Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp has signed a $77-million deal to acquire US-based Quintel, a leading supplier of antenna solutions to North America’s telecom carriers.
Cirtek has been a contractor of antennas for Quintel, which earlier decided to pull out of China due to concerns on intellectual property and quality, benefitting Cirtek which thus became Quintel’s only other supplier in Asia.
A definitive agreement has been signed between Cirtek and Trillium International I, GP, as shareholder representative of Quintel Cayman Ltd for the former to acquire 100 per cent of Quintel.
Trillium – a Rochester, New York-based private equity firm managing early stage venture capital and growth equity funds – had been a shareholder of Quintel since 2007.
Upon closing on July 31, 2017, the transaction will immediately give Cirtek a significant presence in the large and rapidly growing base station antenna market, estimated to be more than $14 billion by 2020.
The board of directors of each company had approved the transaction. Cirtek intends to fund the transaction through debt financing.
Quintel is a leading innovator of spectrum and space-efficient base station antennas for wireless networks.
Among Quintel’s major customers include two of the top five telecom carriers in North America.
Quintel recently expanded its industry-leading Slimline Antennas portfolio.
In addition to the 12-Port Multiband Antenna, Quintel now has 10 Port antennas, both of which come in four, six and eight-foot lengths. This latest Slimline Antenna utilises the same 12”/300mm wide form factor that all Quintel antennas use, providing the industry’s only “one size fits all” portfolio.
Cirtek chair Jerry Liu said: “Quintel’s cutting edge R&D (research and development) and product capabilities significantly add to and complement Cirtek’s growing portfolio in wireless communication, and is aligned with our business focus on high-growth market segments.”
“Further, being the strategic manufacturing partner of Quintel products places us in a unique situation to achieve significant synergies through value engineering, research and development collaboration as well as cost reduction, resulting in high-quality, reliable and cost-competitive products,” said Roberto Juanchito Dispo, Cirtek vice chair and president.
