Hypertac parent company Smiths Interconnect buys US connector firm for $185M

IDI designs and produces highly engineered, application specific connectors using a proprietary spring probe contact technology. It focuses on mission critical applications for semiconductor and circuit-board testing, and high reliability connectors for military, medical, homeland security and industrial markets. IDI employs 560 people, more than half at its Suzhou plant in China, and runs a specialist engineering centre in Gilbert, Arizona.

Smiths Interconnect President Ralph Phillips said: We are a leading supplier of technically differentiated components that are critical to our customers' products and operations, IDI adds a completely new range of connectors to complement our existing portfolio and provide our customers with a wider range of solutions encompassing multiple connector technologies. With a major plant in China, IDI strengthens our connector operations and will allow us to leverage our existing international sales resources, particularly in Europe which accounts for a quarter of the
global connectors market.

Connectors Managing Director Roland Carter added: This acquisition will add world-class spring probe and related socket design capabilities to our engineering portfolio as well as opening new sales channels and positioning the global brands of IDI, Antares and Synergetix alongside the strong brands and technologies of Hypertac, Hypertronics and Sabritec that already exist within Connectors.