Solectron Buys IBM's Electronic Card Assembly & Test Operations

Solectron Corporation announced that it has signed agreements with IBM to acquire IBM's Electronic Card Assembly and Test operations located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The companies have also signed agreements governing intellectual property rights and North American supply for printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). The companies plan on closing the transaction as soon as possible following the necessary government approvals. Financial details related to the transaction were not disclosed.

Solectron will provide PCBA manufacturing services to IBM in North America for the next three years. This includes primarily logic and networking adapter cards used in a number of IBM's high-end, midrange and personal computing products. Solectron will purchase three manufacturing buildings on 50 acres of land on the IBM Charlotte campus. In addition to gaining 425,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity, Solectron will assume certain assets, including equipment and inventory, and will hire approximately 700 IBM manufacturing associates.

Solectron first established a presence in Charlotte in 1992, with the acquisition of a small portion of IBM's printed circuit board assembly business. When Solectron began operations in Charlotte, the Company had a 175,000-square foot facility and 101 associates. Over the last six years, Solectron rapidly expanded Charlotte's scope of services and the facility now offers 245,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity and employs more than 1,350 associates. The site has attained quality certification from ISO 9001, ISO 9002, BABT, TUV and UL.

Solectron's facility in Massachusetts will focus on small volume and complex PCBA and prototype services. North Carolina will be its hub for high-volume PCBA. South Carolina will become its hub for systems design and low-volume complex systems assembly services and Georgia will become Solectron's center for high-volume build-to-order and configure-to-order systems assembly.