MIAMI and BLACKSBURG, Va., May 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI) today announced that its Electronic Technologies Group has acquired 82.5% of VPT, Inc. ("VPT"). Financial terms were not disclosed. HEICO stated that it expects VPT to be accretive to its earnings per share during HEICO's first year of ownership.
VPT is a leading designer and provider of innovative power conversion products principally serving the high-reliability military, space and commercial avionics end-markets. VPT's high density, low profile and lightweight DC-to-DC converters and electromagnetic interference filters, which include thick film hermetically sealed hybrids, military commercial-off-the-shelf and custom designed and assembled products, have become the primary specified components of their kind on a generation of complex military, space and avionics equipment.
Headquartered in Blacksburg, VA, VPT employs approximately 40 people at its Blacksburg, VA, Seattle, WA and Taiwan locations. HEICO stated that VPT's existing management will remain with VPT under employment and non-competition agreements. Further, HEICO stated that it does not expect any material VPT staff turnover following the transaction. The 17.5% of VPT that HEICO did not acquire will continue to be owned by an existing shareholder which is also a supplier to VPT.
Laurans A. Mendelson, HEICO's Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented, "VPT is a perfect fit with our Electronic Technologies Group, as, like our other Electronic Technologies Group companies, VPT is a high quality supplier of niche, mission critical subcomponents found in the most demanding applications. Further, VPT's management team and staff are talented and recognized leaders in the high reliability DC-to-DC converter market and in certain other space power applications. We welcome VPT and its Team Members to the HEICO family."
VPT's President and Co-Founder, Dr. Daniel M. Sable, remarked, "We are excited to become part of HEICO. Being acquired by HEICO allows us to partner with a very successful company that can provide resources for VPT's continued growth and which understands how to foster growth in companies like ours."
The Company has two classes of common stock traded on the NYSE. Both classes, the Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) and the Common Stock (HEI), are virtually identical in all economic respects. The only difference between the share classes is the voting rights. The Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) receives 1/10 vote per share, and the Common Stock (HEI) receives one vote per share. There are currently approximately 15.7 million shares of HEICO's Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) outstanding and 10.4 million shares of HEICO's Common Stock (HEI) outstanding. The stock symbols for HEICO's two classes of common stock on most web sites are HEI.A and HEI. However, some web sites change HEICO's Class A Common Stock stock symbol (HEI.A) to HEI/A or HEIa.
HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space and electronics industries through its Hollywood, FL-based HEICO Aerospace Holdings Corp. subsidiary and its Miami, FL-based HEICO Electronic Technologies Corp. subsidiary. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and airmotives as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide in addition to medical, telecommunication and electronic equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our web site at http://www.heico.com.
Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and contingencies. HEICO's actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements as a result of factors including, but not limited to: lower demand for commercial air travel or airline fleet changes, which could cause lower demand for our goods and services; product specification costs and requirements, which could cause an increase to our costs to complete contracts; governmental and regulatory demands, export policies and restrictions, reductions in defense, space or homeland security spending by U.S. and/or foreign customers or competition from existing and new competitors, which could reduce our sales; HEICO's ability to introduce new products and product pricing levels, which could reduce our sales or sales growth; HEICO's ability to make acquisitions and achieve operating synergies from acquired businesses, customer credit risk, interest rates and economic conditions within and outside of the aviation, defense, space and electronics industries, which could negatively impact our costs and revenues; and HEICO's ability to maintain effective internal controls, which could adversely affect our business and the market price of our common stock. Parties receiving this material are encouraged to review all of HEICO's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to filings on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.