Surrey’s discoverIE acquire CDT group for £5m

Published by

Sam Pither

Industrial electronics manufacturing group discoverIE, which is based at Surrey Research Park, have announced the acquisition of plastic enclosing manufacturer CDT group.

The acquisition will cost discoverIE £5 million on a debt free, cash free basis, before expenses, funded from the group’s existing debt facilities. As of 31 March, pro forma Group gearing including the CDT acquisition was 0.7x, which is below their target of between 1.5x to 2.0x.

Pro forma, Latin for ‘for the sake of form’, is a method of calculating financial results using certain projections or presumptions. A gearing ratio compares some form of a business owner’s equity against a company’s debt; a higher ratio indicates that a company is more susceptible to downturns in the economy and business cycle.

CDT will be integrated into discoverIE’s Contour business cluster within the sensing & connectivity division cluster, whilst retaining its brand identity. It will enhance the cluster’s engineering capabilities, allowing better integration of custom electronic designs within plastic enclosures.

Nick Jefferies, Group Chief Executive of discoverIE, said: “The acquisition of the CDT group continues our strategy of building a high quality, higher margin international group that designs and manufactures customised electronics.

“CDT will be integrated with our existing Contour business enabling more complex and integrated designs as well as providing CDT with access to our wider base of customers and with it, new sales opportunities. We are delighted to welcome CDT and its employees into the Group.

“With a clear strategy focused on long-term, high quality growth markets, a diversified customer base, a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities, the Group is well positioned to make further progress on its key priorities.”

Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset. A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise. Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.