Wyle Electronics Buys Company in Bid to Tap European Market

IRVINE —  Wyle Electronics paid $38.8 million, mostly in cash, to acquire a New Jersey company that will give it access to the European electronics market, according to a government document filed this week.

Wyle paid $30.8 million in cash and $3 million in restricted stock, which represents about 82,000 shares of Wyle common stock, to buy Sylvan Ginsbury Ltd., known as the Ginsbury Group, a privately held international electronics distribution company. In addition, Wyle will pay up to $5 million more based on the future financial performance of Ginsbury, according to the Irvine distribution company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wyle, with 30 offices nationwide specializing in marketing semiconductors and computer products, previously had declined to provide details on the cost of acquiring Ginsbury.

For the first nine months of last year, Ginsbury earned $2.1 million on sales of $38 million, while Wyle earned $25.6 million on sales of $778.4 million.