In a move that consolidates two small, longtime vendors of cable TV equipment, Blonder Tongue Laboratories announced that it has completed the acquisition of R.L. Drake in a deal worth up to $8 million subject to certain to adjustments.
Both companies supply cable TV and satellite signal-processing and distribution equipment. Blonder Tongue paid approximately $6.5 million for R.L. Drake, subject to adjustments based on a post-closing audit of R.L. Drake's balance sheet, plus contingent payments of up to $1.5 million over the next three years if certain financial targets are realized.
R.L. Drake's unaudited net sales for 2011 were approximately $10 million. Blonder Tongue, with 160 full-time employees, reported revenue of $20.2 million and a net loss of $261,000 for the first nine months of 2011.
Blonder Tongue said that to "maximize customer support" it will continue to operate separate entities in two locations: Blonder Tongue in Old Bridge, N.J., and R.L. Drake in Franklin, Ohio.
"As respected leaders in the field of cable television communications, Blonder Tongue and Drake together offer customers more than 125 years of combined engineering and manufacturing excellence with solid histories of delivering reliable, quality products," Blonder Tongue chairman and CEO James Luksch said in announcing the acquisition. "Continuing with our strategic plan, by maximizing synergies amongst our highly respected engineering, manufacturing and marketing teams, customers will reap multiple benefits including additional new and innovative products delivered to market faster and more affordably."
Blonder Tongue's product portfolio spans solutions for provisioning content contribution, distribution and video delivery to homes and businesses, including SD and HD digital video, analog video and high-speed data over coax, fiber and IP networks.
R.L. Drake, founded in 1943, sells electronic communications solutions for cable TV systems, digital TV reception, video signal distribution and digital video encoding.
