Plexus acquires Agility Inc. to expand market reach

Moving closer to major Northeast accounts like Lucent Technologies Inc. and other OEM customers, Plexus Corp. today said it will acquire Massachusetts printed-circuit-board maker Agility Inc.

Plexus, a Neenah, Wis., contract electronics manufacturer, said the deal will augment its production capabilities by stretching the company's manufacturing tentacles to strategic locations in the United States and abroad.

Agility Inc., a privately held company based in Ayer, Mass., specializes in complex PCB, box-build, and system assembly. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The all-stock transaction should be completed in April and will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.

"Agility will provide us with an excellent capability in the Boston area, where we have many excellent customers, and will accomplish our stated strategic objective of establishing a strong presence there," said John Nussbaum, Plexus' president and chief operating officer, in a statement.

Plexus' latest acquisition follows last year's purchases of Intermac Technologies and SeaMED Corp., both of Washington, and the assets of Shure Inc., Wheeling, Ill., which expanded the company's services to OEM customers in the high-end computing system, medical equipment, and telecom markets.

Agility, founded in 1969, started out as a design company for medical equipment before becoming a CEM in 1972. Last year, the company reported revenue of $21 million. It has 120 workers who will become Plexus employees.

Agility's founder and president, Jim Hashem, said Plexus will benefit from the Massachusetts company's prototype and midvolume, high-technology PCB services. Plexus will also shore up Agility's design and engineering services.

"Plexus has 400 engineers," Hashem said. "They're a strong CEM. We complement them well."

Hashem will become Plexus' general manager of Northeast operations. His son Mark, who is Agility's vice president of operations, will become Plexus' director of Northeast operations.

Agility will continue with plans to expand the company's 25,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility to a 65,000-sq.-ft. plant by late spring, Hashem said.