MAY 3--The management team of BFi OPTiLAS (Evry, France; www.bfioptilas.com) completed a management buyout of the company on April 28, 2006. BFi OPTiLAS has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Avnet Corporation for more than 10 years following the acquisition of BFI Ibexsa in 1995 and its subsequent merger with Optilas in 1998. It has operated as a completely autonomous organization within Avnet's European Electronics Marketing Group. During that time BFi OPTiLAS has contributed to the development and profitability of Avnet within Europe.
BFi OPTiLAS's management team has engaged an independent private equity firm, Activa Capital, to acquire a majority stake in the company. Activa Capital manages more than 185 million euros of investments on behalf of a number of European pension funds, such as British Telecom, insurance companies, fund of funds and family offices, and has an international team dedicated to working with mid-sized companies such as BFi OPTiLAS. Avnet will retain a minority stake in the company.
BFi OPTiLAS will continue to expand its operation as a pan-European distributor of products and services for the electronics and photonics marketplaces. The company focuses on niche technology products such as magnetic materials, lasers, sensors, connectors, electro-optics, imaging, fiberoptics, RF and microwave components, systems, and assemblies. The company operates from 12 offices throughout Europe, employing 300.