Digital Angel Corp. aquires McMurdo Marine Electronics, maker of military emergency location beacons
ST. PAUL, Minn., 9 April 2007. Digital Angel Corporation has completed its acquisition of certain assets and customer contracts of McMurdo Ltd., the U.K.'s premier manufacturer of emergency location beacons, from Chemring Group PLC. Digital Angel purchased McMurdo for approximately $5.7 million in cash.
Digital Angel president and CEO Kevin McGrath says, "Simply put, we believe our strategic acquisition of McMurdo is the perfect complement to our SARBE business. Its network of approximately 60 outlets will broaden our emergency location beacon product offering to serve the military and commercial maritime sectors. We expect the McMurdo acquisition to add at least $8 million to $9 million of additional revenue for the remainder of 2007."
McMurdo's safety equipment technology -- including its EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) and the first GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) approved Search And Rescue Transponder -- have become standard, lifesaving equipment on many military marine vehicles.
Emergency Locator Beacons represent a core competency and key growth market for Digital Angel and its subsidiary Signature Industries. Impending changes to the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite monitoring system mean much of the equipment currently in service will require replacement by February 2009.
The SARBE Division of Signature Industries manufactures a line of military search-and-rescue beacons and has worked closely with the Royal Air Force, a branch of the U.K. Ministry of Defense, for more than 50 years. The acquisition of McMurdo's technology and its manufacturing infrastructure should significantly strengthen Digital Angel's position in the locator beacon industry.
