Premier Farnell, the company that manufactures the $5 minicomputer Raspberry Pi, has been bought by the Swiss company Daetwyler. The Swiss components manufacturer agreed to pay $1.12 billion to acquire Premier Farnell.

Following the acquisition, Daetwyler highlighted that the two companies have a complementary product range and the merger will boost their scale and global presence.

Like Us on Facebook

Lately, Swiss manufacturing and engineering companies have been cutting jobs at home and have been busy relocating to foreign markets. Many market experts believe that this has to do with the Swiss central bank's decision to abandon the ceiling for the franc against the euro. This decision has led the prices of Swiss goods to rise up.

Daetwyler distributes more than 500,000 electronic products under several brands including Nedis. The Swiss company said that the acquisition of Premier Farnell will create a group with revenues of up to 2.5 billion Swiss francs of about $2.5 billion.

Premier Farnell has been facing a lot of financial problems lately. The company's shares price has dropped by about 10 percent since September 2015. The company has been forced to cut some of its dividends and sell some non-core units due to subpar sales growth in the UK and North American markets.

To fund the purchase of Premier Farnell, Daetwyler will embark on a 200 million francs fundraising and sell some treasury shares amounting to about 60 million francs. Premier Farnell's long time majority shareholder Pema Holding will maintain its current stake.

Daetwyler said that the acquisition will bring additional earnings once it is completed. The company is aiming to finalize the deal and complete the acquisition within the last quarter of the year.

In a statement acquired by The Wall Street Journal, Daetwyler chairman Ulrich Graf said, "By combining our forces, we significantly increase our competitiveness and extend our product range, facilitating a one-stop shopping experience for our wide range of customers from a multitude of industries."

Tagsraspberry, raspberry pi, Pi, Daetwyler, Premier Farnell