Eka Systems will be integrated into the EAS group, the smart grid platform within Cooper’s Power Systems division. Largely due to planned additional research and development investment, the acquisition is anticipated to reduce Cooper’s 2010 forecasted earnings per share by approximately $.03.
Eka Systems, through its EkaNet Smart Network technology, provides utilities with an open-standards based wireless Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system that provides automated meter reading, power outage detection, customer billing options and the ability to track and analyze usage data on a near real-time basis.
Eka Systems’ product offering includes radios, wireless repeaters, meter nodes, gateways and data collection tools and operates over the 900Mhz radio frequency for domestic markets and the 2.4GHz frequency for international markets.
Kirk Hachigian, chairman and CEO of Cooper Industries, said: “This is the fourth acquisition we have made into our Energy Automation Solutions (EAS) business and demonstrates Cooper’s ongoing commitment to being a market leader in utility automation.
“Eka Systems’ RF wireless networking capabilities are a complement to the existing EAS platform, which has approximately $200m in annual revenues and continues to experience double-digit growth.”
Mike Stoessl, president of Cooper Power Systems, said: “Cooper Power Systems focuses on providing comprehensive solutions to our customers and we have leading positions in apparatus, communications technology, enterprise software and automation applications.
”For AMI applications, we are the market leader for PLC based installations and with this acquisition will be able to offer our customers who require both PLC and RF technologies more customized solutions to meet their individual needs in both rural and urban service territories.”
