Another Ottawa technology firm has been taken over by American owners after years of operating in the capital.
BreconRidge, one of the last large electronics manufacturing plants in North America, has been sold for $53 million.
Just over a year ago, BreconRidge shook up its management team. It negotiated more than $50 million in new financing and was changing its strategy to boost sales. It appears all that did was make it an attractive takeover target.
BreconRidge specializes in custom electronics manufacturing and design work. The company started up in Ottawa 10 years ago when it bought a huge building in Kanata that was built by Nortel but never used.
BreconRidge employs nearly 600 people in Ottawa, and another 600 people working at plants in China and the United States.
One year ago, the company's CEO Cyril McKelvie told CTV Ottawa he believed the future of BreconRidge included expansion.
"I think we can see expansion for us three to six months out. We are seeing some stabilization of the business and we are seeing signs of growth," he said at the time.
The last refinancing of the company meant that in just a few years nearly $100 million was invested into BreconRidge. However, the company sold for a little more than half that investment.
Now, BreconRidge is referring all calls to its new owner, Sanmina-SCI of San Jose, Calif., which is expected to pump up sales by at least 20 per cent in the next year. The deal will close in 30 days.
Although BreconRidge was started by people in Ottawa, it faced stiff competition from Asian manufacturers.
Sanmina-SCI has annual sales of more than $5 billion. Second quarter figures released Monday showed sales were up 28 per cent from a year ago, and the company was profitable.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Paul Brent
