Teledyne Braces For Shift in Work

In anticipation of a drop in military and defense orders, Teledyne Technologies Inc. is positioning itself to get more work in the commercial and industrial sectors. To that end, the Thousand Oaks-based electronic components manufacturer acquired digital imaging products company DALSA Corp., based in Waterloo, Ontario on Dec. 22. The deal is worth about $340.5 million. The acquisition follows a pattern of adding to its imaging and sensor equipment portfolio. In March, Teledyne subsidiary Teledyne Scientific & Imaging bought a minority share in Optical Alchemy, a New Hampshire based company. In June, Teledyne acquired Optimum Optical Systems Inc., in Camarillo. DALSA, founded in 1980, makes digital imaging components, fabricates semiconductors, image sensors used in still photography, broadcast videography and large-field digital radiography; and imaging equipment used in the medical and life sciences industries. Attempts to reach a representative of Teledyne Technologies to discuss the deal were not successful. Analysts following the company said that acquiring other firms has been a lead growth strategy over the past decade. Teledyne then creates synergies with these purchases that bring a good return on their investment. “They are a focused and diligent acquirer,” said Chris Quilty, an analyst with Raymond James and Associates. “Every acquisition they do has a strategic fit with existing product lines, factories and customers.” Raymond James owns shares in Teledyne. In a conference call in July to discuss the company’s second quarter earnings, Chairman, CEO and President Robert Mehrabian identified imaging and optics as among the areas of acquisition the company was focused on. A complement The DALSA purchase was attractive to the company because of how its commercial product line complements the products developed by Teledyne used in government applications. The combination of DALSA and Teledyne technologies allows for development of new products to serve their respective markets. With the buyout comes a name change to Teledyne DALSA. The company employs more than 1,000 workers. For the third quarter ending Sept. 30, DALSA reported revenues of $55.3 million (Canadian), a 35 percent increase from the same period in 2009. By comparison, Teledyne reported revenues of $444 million for the third quarter, an increase of 3.5 percent over the $429.4 million in revenues for the third quarter in 2009. The imaging business falls under the Electronics and Communications division of Teledyne, the biggest money maker. In the third quarter the division brought in $325 million in revenues. The company made a large investment in imaging technology and components when it purchased the former Rockwell Scientific. That opened up a market for high-end imaging equipment used in spy satellites. The imaging sensor business found work in large scale space programs that have since been pared down. NASA uses But NASA has found other uses for the imaging equipment, as Mehrabian explained in the second quarter conference call. “We have some very good programs now in space astronomy, ground-based astronomy, and while the James Webb program money went down, the subsequent increases in astronomy have really helped us a lot,” Mehrabian said. With cuts in military spending looming, Teledyne now looks to diversify its client base and the DALSA acquisition is part of that move. DALSA sold primarily to the commercial market and had just started expanding into the military side. There now exists good cross-selling opportunities as Teledyne already has good relations with the customers DALSA wanted to reach, Quilty said. Teledyne is also in the process of developing third generation technology that can be used at the individual soldier level. “DALSA would help in some regards to that effort,” Quilty said.