Industrial machine vision developer Cognex recently announced that it has agreed to acquire Moritex from Trustar Capital, the private equity arm of Citic Capital Holdings, in an all-cash transaction of 40 billion yen (about $275 million). Moritex is a supplier of machine vision optical components with a strong presence in Japan.

“We have long recognized and marketed Moritex optical components as an essential part of our work.” Robert Willett, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cognex commented, “With this acquisition, Cognex expands into machine vision optical components, which will expand our service market and deepen our penetration into the Japanese machine vision market.”

Robert Willett added, “Machine vision functions similar to the human eye and brain, and the Cognex vision system and Moritex optical components complement each other well. Together, they help simplify the machine vision solutions offered to customers, resulting in more advanced and highly integrated products.”

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Cognex said Moritex “has built a reputation over its 50-year history as an industry leader in delivering high-quality, standard optical components.” The company develops and markets high-precision solutions for equipment manufacturers in a wide range of industrial markets.

Takao Sato, CEO of Moritex, commented: “We are delighted to join Cognex in our mission to deliver the best optical solutions to our customers. The combination of our best-in-class optical components with the global machine vision leader will create new growth opportunities.” This acquisition will enable us to deliver solutions to Cognex’s broad customer base, offering a more comprehensive range of machine vision products. We remain committed to being proactive in serving and supporting our customers around the world.”

Robert Willett continued: “Moritex will be the largest acquisition in Cognex’s 42-year history. We are very selective in evaluating potential acquisitions. Moritex’s strategic fit, reputation, growth prospects, innovation culture and financial profile exceeded our selection criteria.”

Moritex is expected to contribute 6-8% of Cognex’s revenue and the acquisition is expected to be accretive based on 2025 GAAP earnings per share. Moritex is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan and employs approximately 500 people.

Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023. Evercore served as sole financial advisor to Cognex.