Littelfuse Inc. has acquired SurgX Corp. from Oryx Technology for about $2.5 million in cash. SurgX Corp. licenses the SurgX™ brand of proprietary surge protection technology for over-voltage circuit protection. Littelfuse will incorporate the SurgX™ technology into its circuit protection product portfolio and will receive future royalties on SurgX's existing license agreements.
SurgX was a majority owned subsidiary of Oryx Technology that licensed its proprietary SurgX surge protection technology. Oryx got about $1.9 million of the proceeds on the closing. Another former stockholder will receive approximately $81,000. Oryx said it expects to get $500,000 more from an escrow account established with respect to certain representations and warranties made by it in the transaction. The escrow period lapses 18 months after the closing.
The acquisition expands Littelfuse's offerings for the electronic market with complementary polymer technology used in electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection devices. Littelfuse PulseGuard® polymer ESD devices are used in high-definition TVs, computers, cell phones and many other electronic applications that move large amounts of data at high speeds.
"The addition of the SurgX™ technology further solidifies our position as the market leader in polymer ESD circuit protection and will further enhance the value we bring to our customers," said Gordon Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of Littelfuse.
Phil Micciche, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oryx, said, "Our board felt it was in the best interest of our shareholders to monetize our future SurgX royalty stream and to use these proceeds to support our investment and ownership interest in S2 Technologies. We believe these funds will provide adequate capital to sustain Oryx's operations for the foreseeable future."
