Pivot International has announced the acquisition of Livingston-based A2E for an undisclosed sum. A2E is an innovative design and engineering solutions firm in the oil and gas, defence and security, smart energy, medical and life science industries. The move follows the acquisition of Glasgow-based product design company WideBlue in April 2018 and is believed to form Scotland's largest independent product design and engineering group.
Established in 2002, A2E delivers innovative hardware and software design services across a range of industries. The company specializes in single-source solutions, from concept development and design, prototype testing to design for manufacturing (DFM).
Mark Dohnalek, president and CEO of Kansas-based Pivot International said: "We are delighted to announce our second UK acquisition to bolster our presence in Europe. A2E and WideBlue will complement each other as they each have different skill sets and are working with clients in non-competing sectors. I have been very impressed by the technical and engineering talent in both companies which I believe will position us as one of the leading product design, development and manufacturing solutions groups in Europe."
He added: "Pivot has been trading for 47 years and over the past five years we have experienced annual growth of 141%, , and have facilities in 10 locations around the world which enables us to respond to client challenges with a speed and agility which few other companies can match."
David Ross, managing director of A2E Limited, comments: "The acquisition will help serve our clients with an expanded team of experts, capabilities, resources and locations globally. We are very optimistic about our affiliation with Pivot and its effect for our clients and our employees."
Since acquisition WideBlue has grown annual revenues by 50% to £1.5m and increased headcount from 14 to 18 highly qualified engineers, scientists and product designers. Russell Overend, managing director, WideBlue said: "The acquisition has been a win-win for both parties. Pivot was searching for a company which could act as its European base and complement its own product design and manufacturing resources in the US and Asia and we were looking for a route which would help us scale the business on the world stage."
He added: "During the course of the past year we have collaborated on several high-profile projects. In particular, we have been working on a number of breakthrough medical device products and Pivot will provide the manufacturing resources for commercial production once clinical trials are completed."