It's Vanilla’s second acquisition, both of which have completed within the past six months and will allow the company to increase its electronics manufacturing capability and the organisation’s market reach globally.
Formed in 2002 and based in Thetford, Vanilla offers a fully outsourced service, boosting operational efficiency for technology manufacturers worldwide by streamlining complex supply chain processes. Shipping over a million parts per day from its 25,000sq ft automated warehouse to a range of customers including start-ups, high-tech SMEs and multi-national, corporate manufacturers, Vanilla is a leader in supply chain management across the electronics manufacturing industry. Vanilla provides a range of services including but not limited to design, procurement, manufacturing, order fulfilment and repair.
Founded in 1987 by Dave Weston, Interconics is the leading automated manufacturer of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assemblies. This niche, complex and cutting-edge offering has been instrumental in cementing the organisation’s reputation as a highly respected manufacturing company. Dave Weston, present MD at Interconics is set to take up a new role as Group Chief Technical Officer whilst Gary Wearing, Group Chief Operations Officer, will step into the position of Managing Director of Interconics. Both will lead the business with close guidance from Dan Croft and Matt Negus (Group Chief Financial Officer).
Birketts team was led by Partner Ed Savory with assistance from Adam Jones, Alex Forwood and Macauley Alsford (Corporate). Further support was provided by Andrew Ridout and Emily Mills (Commercial Property), Karl Pocock and Ben Clarke (Tax), Jack Shreeve (Commercial), Lucy Churchill (Employment) and Melanie Harvey (Corporate). Literacy Capital also supported on the transaction.
Dan Croft, Group Chief Executive Officer at Vanilla, commented: “Following the acquisition of Bela Electronic Designs, a leading provider of PCB design and low volume production earlier this year, the purchase of Interconics complements Vanilla’s growth plans and enables us to cover the supply chain management process in full, from design to manufacture, all within the UK. We are very excited to enter this new collaboration with Interconics and boost our capability in higher volume, automated electronics manufacturing services. The Birketts team impressed us again with their responsiveness, commercial insight and excellent customer service. Their depth of knowledge makes them a natural match to support us as we continue to realise our ambition of growing the organisation to increase the technical and commercial value we offer our customers.”
Ed Savory, Corporate Partner at Birketts, concluded: “It has been a pleasure to work once more with the Vanilla team, this time working alongside Literacy’s team, as they continue to grow the business, joining forces with Interconics to increase their capabilities in high volume Printed Circuit Board assembly. I have no doubt that this exciting partnership will prove very fruitful for both companies and we wish them all the best for the future.”
Image: Assembly of a printed circuit board (PCB). Reproduced with the kind permission of Vanilla.