Philippine electronics manufacturer Cirtek Electronics Corp. said Tuesday it had bought United States technology firm Quintel for $77 million, the latest in a trend of local companies acquiring foreign businesses.
The purchase–fuelled by one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies—reveals the latest trend of Filipino companies embarking in recent years on global expansion plans that analysts say are the biggest ever seen from the Philippines.
Cirtek chief financial officer Tony Buyawe said the acquisition of the Silicon Valley-based Quintel Technology, which provides equipment to US telecom giants AT&T and Verizon, would allow his company to sell a wider range of products.
“This is a major acquisition of a company in a leading-edge field,” Buyawe told AFP.
He said Cirtek had been the strategic manufacturing partner of Quintel, which designs and makes antennas for wireless cellular networks.
With the acquisition, Buyawe said Cirtek could now bundle products and services to customers.
“Our customers don’t have to source items from different companies,” he said.
Buyawe said Cirtek, which started as a semiconductor manufacturer and shifted to producing electronic equipment for wireless networks, was moving up the technology value chain with the acquisition of Quintel.
The acquisition was financed through loans with local banks, he said, adding that other tech companies were also in Cirtek’s sights.
“We are looking at one or two major acquisitions in the next one or two years,” he said.
Only last year, Philippine food giant Universal Robina Corp acquired Snack Brands Australia.
Local instant noodle firm Monde Nissin bought British meat substitute manufacturer Quorn in 2015.