Tektronix Gets a Little TDA

News Analysis Light Reading 6/23/2005

Swallowing fellow test firm Inet Technologies last year clearly didn't satisfy the M&A appetite of Tektronix Inc. (NYSE: TEK), which announced another, smaller acquisition today (see Tektronix Acquires TDA Systems).

The Inet deal was worth $325 million and gave Tektronix a position in the increasingly important IP network monitoring market. Tektronix has now paid an undisclosed sum to get interconnect analysis software tool firm TDA Systems, whose technology is used by electronic component development firms such as Fujitsu, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), and Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: IFX).

The two companies were already partners, and they agree that the integration of TDA's analysis tools with Tektronix's sampling oscilloscopes can help developers diagnose and fix signal impairment problems more quickly.

Tektronix, which will release its fourth-quarter results after the close of the stock markets today, saw its share price dip slightly, by 13 cents, less than 1 percent, to $24.36.

While this is, by Tektronix's own admission, a small deal, it is yet another example of consolidation in the test market, and follows quickly on the heels of JDS Uniphase Corp.'s (Nasdaq: JDSU; Toronto: JDU) move for Acterna Corp. (see JDSU Buys Into Testy Market, NetHawk Plucks VOIP Tester, and Empirix Snaps Up CT Labs).

But it's not just M&A news that's coming from the test sector. Here's a roundup of some of the sector's latest product and business news:

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading