Not only Microsoft is buying up Israeli start-ups. Brazilian optical network solutions giant Padtec has paid $30-40 million for Civcom, an Israeli pioneer in the development and manufacturing of cost saving optical solutions for communications, test and measurement, and military applications. The move comes on a wave of rapid expansion for Padtec as it seeks to become a major player in the international optical communications market.
According to Jorge Salomão Pereira, CEO and Head of Technology Division at Padtec,
“The Civcom acquisition is much more than a typical company acquisition. It represents a great opportunity to offer competitive solutions to the high speed optical communication market.”
Meron Raz, CEO of Civcom, adds that the acquisition will “will increase [Civcom’s] worldwide market share and will add leading knowledge and more capability” to their products and technology.That buyout doesn’t exactly break the bank for Civcom’s investors Pitango, JVP, Concord, Ascend, Formula, and Morris Kahn’s Aurum Ventures. They invested nearly $38 million in the company. But hey, you win some, and you break even on others.
For more on this check out Padtec’s press release or an interview with Padtec’s CEO.
By Dani Dechter
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
