Amphenol To Buy Casco For $450 Mln. - Update

(RTTNews) - Fiber optic connector maker Amphenol Corp (APH), Friday agreed to buy Casco Automotive Group for about $450 million, subject to customary closing adjustments.

Casco is a unit of Cap-Con Automotive Technologies Ltd, owned by a private investment fund managed by Jordan Co II L.P. and Cap-Con management.

Amphenol, based in Wallingford, Connecticut, said the deal would close by the end of the year, and expects it to be accretive to earnings per share in the first year post acquisition.

Casco, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a supplier of highly engineered data connectivity, power, charging and sensor products to the automotive market, with annual sales of about $220 million. Casco has facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia and employs nearly 1,300 people.

"We believe that Casco's product offerings are uniquely complementary to our existing offering and represent a significant long-term expansion opportunity driven by the expansion of electronics across a broad set of applications in the automotive market," said Adam Norwitt, Amphenol's chief executive officer.

Amphenol makes electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable. In July, the company reported a better-than-expected increase in second-quarter profit, on double-digit sales growth, and lifted its outlook for the full year.

Amphenol stock closed Friday at $103.01, down $0.38 or 0.37%, on a volume of 690k shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock gained $0.99 or 0.96% at $104.00.