Zebra Technologies is acquiring Matrox Imaging for $875 million. The acquisition is expected to close in 2022. Matrox Imaging develops machine vision components and systems and generates annual sales of approximately $100 million.
Matrox offers platform-independent software, software development kits (SDKs), smart cameras, 3D sensors, vision controllers, input/output (I/O) cards, and frame grabbers which are used to capture, inspect, assess, and record data from industrial vision systems in factory automation, electronics and pharmaceutical packaging, semiconductor inspection, and more.
Zebra Technologies in 2021 acquired Adaptive Vision, a machine vision software company, and launched its own line of fixed industrial scanning and machine vision systems. Zebra said the Matrox Imaging deal will complement the aforementioned products.
“Customers are increasingly deploying automated solutions to augment their front-line workers, enabling them to focus on more complex, higher value workflows, and machine vision is a key technology to help them get there,” said Anders Gustafsson, CEO, Zebra Technologies. “This acquisition enables us to meet our customers’ evolving needs, regardless of where they are on their automation journey — from capturing and analyzing data to facilitate decision-making to deploying physical automation solutions to accelerate the production and movement of goods and materials.”
The deal also expands Zebra’s presence in automation market. In 2021, it also acquired Fetch Robotics, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for $290 million. Zebra already owned 5% of Fetch through an earlier investment and acquired the other 95% of the company. Fetch Robotics was the first of four AMR companies to be acquired last year in a span of five months.
“The combination of Matrox Imaging’s technical expertise with the global footprint of Zebra Technologies presents an opportunity for Matrox Imaging to accelerate its long-term strategic plan,” said Lorne Trottier, president and co-founder of Matrox. “With its complementary machine vision and fixed industrial scanning portfolio, Zebra Technologies will be an excellent home for Matrox Imaging.”
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