UK-listed Laird has acquired corporate venturing-backed Nextreme Thermal Solutions, a US-based technology company that designs and manufactures micro-scale cooling systems for use in electronics, for up to $60m.
Laird said it would pay $1, with potential cash earn-out payments based on a multiple of 0.4 times revenue over a four-year period from 2014 up to a maximum of $60m if $150m in revenue is achieved.
This year, Nextreme is expected to make a loss of $3m as the company moves from technology investment to mass production.
Nextreme and Laird currently have a strategic design and distribution partnership, but the acquisition allows Laird to help scale-up Nextreme’s operations in sensors, solar power and light-emitting diodes.
David Lockwood, chief executive of Laird, said: “Nextreme is the next generation in technology for thermoelectrics. It can fundamentally change the way we cool electronics at the most integrated levels while being produced in large volumes. This significant shift in technology will also enable new applications such as energy harvesting.”
In July 2009, Nextreme raised $8m in its extended series B round from undisclosed corporate investors to take its total investment to $35m since launch in 2004.
The original $13m B round that closed in August 2008 came from Japan-based technology company Itochu’s corporate venturing unit, the US government’s intelligence network venture capital group In-Q-Tel and VCs Chart Venture Partners, Redshift Ventures and Harris & Harris Group, and research group RTI International.