by John McHale
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. recently acquired Myriad Logic in Silver Spring, Md., in an effort to broaden the company's I/O solutions offerings.
Both companies are involved in defense electronics, medical imaging, and OEM solutions. Combining Mercury's resources and strength in digital signal and image processing with Myriad Logic's advanced I/O subsystem competencies will enable the company to provide complete, modular systems, Mercury officials say.
"Our customers were telling us they wanted us to be a bigger part of the solution, by offering more I/O, through ATM, Fiber, Ethernet, etc.," says Vince Mancuso, vice president and general manager of defense technology at Mercury. "We could invent products ourselves or look to our partner base, where we could incorporate the needed I/O capability quickly. Myriad was the best solution."
"Mercury has been looking to expand our capability to provide more of a total system solution, and at the same time our customers have been requesting the company assume responsibility for more of the systems integration requirements," says Jay Bertelli, president and chief executive officer of Mercury. "Virtually all of our systems require some type of high-performance I/O capability, and Myriad Logic is a recognized leader in I/O subsystems within our various markets."
Myriad had a similar culture and a strong line of products, Mancuso continues. "We also hope that the acquisition will open up new applications for us." One area of defense where Myriad is involved and Mercury is not is common data link systems, which are used for airborne to ground communications, he adds.
However, the number-one reason "we chose Myriad is their culture," Mancuso says. "They have good people, strong attention to engineering, and customer satisfaction, which make them a perfect fit."
"With the additional sales and support resources, and the brand recognition of Mercury Computer Systems, we expect to expand our market capability in providing advanced I/O subsystems worldwide," says Richard O'Connell, president and chief executive officer of Myriad. "In addition, within high-performance signal and image processing applications, a well-balanced system design is critical to our customer's ultimate success."
Myriad Logic provides real-time input/output solutions for instrumentation recording, data recording, and serial and parallel I/O applications. The company has 27 current employees, and had calendar 2001 revenues of about $10 million. Mercury's 2001 revenues were about $181 million, Mercury officials say.
Myriad's employees will continue working in Silver Spring under the leadership of their current management team, as the Mercury I/O Center of Excellence, Mercury officials say. They will focus on advancing I/O subsystem capabilities and tightly integrating Mercury and Myriad products. This will diminish the complexities of systems integration and provide a faster time to market for Mercury's customers, company officials say.
The two companies' sales and marketing organizations share strong relationships with many common customers and have collaborated in providing solutions for several years, Mercury officials say. Myriad, which holds about 15 percent of the embedded real-time I/O solutions market, has I/O and networking interface technology that is recognized as the standard for many real-time applications and has achieved broad acceptance among many of Mercury's customers, company officials say.
The cash transaction, valued at $7.5 million, will be recorded along with certain acquisition costs in Mercury's fourth fiscal quarter, ending June 30, 2002, Mercury officials say.
For more information on Mercury Computer Systems contact the company on the World Wide Web at http://www.mc.com.
