Cooper Industries Acquires Smart Grid Tech Firm Eka Systems
Posted in Smart Grid on April 13th, 2010 by News Desk –
Germantown, Md. — Cooper Industries, a Texas-based manufacturer of electrical products, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Germantown-based Eka Systems, a developer of radio-frequency wireless networking technologies used for smart grid communications. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Eka’s infrastructure products — radios, wireless repeaters, meter nodes, gateways and data collection tools — allow utilities to conduct automated meter reading, detect power outages, enhance customer billing options and track and analyze usage data. The privately held firm was founded in 2000 and raised about $40 million from investors that included Angeleno Group, RockPort Capital Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and The Westly Group.
“We plan to make significant additional organic investments in this product line to further enhance our competitive position in the rapidly expanding utility automation market,” said Kirk Hachigian, the chairman and CEO of Cooper, in an announcement. Cooper plans to integrate Eka into its Energy Automation Solutions (EAS) business, which currently produces about $200 million in annual revenue.
