Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 16, 1994 TAG: 9407180138
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thomas & Betts Corp., Vitramon's Memphis, Tenn., parent, said Friday it will sell the unit to Vishay Intertechnology Inc. of Malvern, Pa., for $184 million. The deal is expected to close next week. Thomas & Betts has owned Vitramon since 1987.
At its Roanoke plant, Vitramon makes chip capacitors for integrated circuits used in automobiles, computers and a variety of other electronic applications.
William W. Johnson, manager of the Roanoke plant, said he expects the sale itself to have no impact on employment at the plant. Vitramon has 375 employees in Roanoke, up from 300 at the end of last year, and Johnson said he expects employment to approach 400 by the end of October.
Robert Freece, Vishay's chief financial officer, agreed that his company's purchase of Vitramon would probably have no effect on employment at the Roanoke plant.
Vishay makes electronic products similar to those made by Vitramon. Vitramon's products are complementary to those made by Vishay, Freece said.
Vitramon completed a $21 million addition to its Roanoke plant in December. The plant shipped about 1 billion capacitors in 1993 at an average of 3 cents each and planned to expand shipments to 2.5 billion this year. Ford Motor Co. buys 25 percent of the plant's output. Other customers include Chrysler Corp., Motorola Inc., AT&T and Northern Telecom Ltd.
Vitramon, based in Monroe, Conn., also operates manufacturing plants in Brazil, England, Germany and France.
T. Kevin Dunnigan, chairman of Thomas & Betts, said that although Vitramon has had ``excellent performance'' since his company acquired it, its future direction will take it further away from Thomas & Betts' core business of electrical and electronic connectors, components and systems.
Vishay is a Fortune 500 company and the largest U.S. and European maker of fixed resistors, resitive sensors and tatalum capacitors and is a leading producer of film capacitors, inductors and other electronic components used by the military, electronics manufacturers and the auto industry.
In 1993, Vishay's sales were $856.3 million and its net earnings $44 million. The company steadily has improved its sales and earnings figures over the past five years.
The expansion of Vitramon's Roanoke plant was accomplished with the help of a $350,000 state grant and $150,000 city grant, which were used for site preparation.
by CNB