Luna Innovations acquires Silixa

Date Announced: 21 Dec 2023

ROANOKE, VA, USA – Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA), a global leader in advanced fiber optic-based technology, today announced the strategic acquisition of Silixa, a UK-based leader in distributed fiber optic sensing solutions. The acquisition further propels Luna’s position in the fiber optic sensing market, adding capabilities in distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and distributed strain sensing (DSS) that offer enhanced performance for applications in energy, natural environments, mining and defense.

Silixa is expected to achieve approximately $30 million in 2023 revenue, representing approximately 15% annual growth on a constant currency basis. The purchase price consists of $21.5 million in upfront cash consideration and up to an additional $16.5 million in earnouts payable in 2025 upon the achievement of certain 2024 financial performance milestones. The transaction was funded with a portion of the proceeds from White Hat Capital Partners’ strategic investment in Luna, which was also announced today. Inclusive of modest cost synergies, the acquisition is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings in the first year.

“The addition of Silixa not only elevates the portfolio of solutions we already offer in our key end markets, but also further strengthens our position as an enabler of energy transition by extending our reach into exciting new growth sectors, such as carbon capture and storage, as well as into monitoring processes that will help sustain ecosystems and safeguard fragile environments,” said Scott Graeff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Luna. “Silixa brings important technology capabilities and strong talent that we expect to leverage across our EMEA footprint, which we expect will drive profitable growth across our European enterprise.”

Strategic Benefits

• Enhances Luna’s Product Offerings: Silixa’s highly complementary portfolio of sensing technologies and monitoring capabilities augments Luna’s current product portfolio. Silixa advances Luna’s solutions-based offerings with highly integrated monitoring and real-time data solutions that yield valuable insights and drive recurring revenue.
• Expands Luna’s Serviceable Addressable Market: Silixa not only provides Luna access to emerging end markets, such as carbon capture and geotechnical monitoring, but also adds incremental capabilities and geographical reach within key existing end markets, such as energy and mining.   
• Increases Luna’s Scale: In addition to greater financial and operational scale, Silixa brings proprietary sensing technologies, expanding Luna’s industry-leading patent portfolio to nearly 1,000 with the addition of Silixa’s 200+ patents. Silixa’s established presence in the U.K. adds significant talent in sales, marketing, engineering and R&D, helping to round out Luna’s EMEA organization.

“Today’s announcement is a pivotal milestone in the history of Silixa and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees,” said Co-Founders Mahmoud Farhadiroushan and Tom Parker, who are both continuing with Luna. “We’re thrilled to be joining a company that shares our focus on innovation and our passion to provide solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges,” added Glynn Williams, CEO at Silixa, who will remain as an advisor to Luna through 2024.

Needham & Company, LLC acted as financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal counsel to Luna in the transaction.  PWC acted as financial advisor and Addleshaw Goddard LLP acted as legal counsel to Silixa.

Contact

E-mail: solutions@lunainc.com

Web Site: www.lunainc.com