Stein am Rhein/Kloten, 3 January 2014. Phoenix Mecano Group, a leading player in the manufacture and sale of technical components for industrial applications, is to acquire all shares in Hitec Special Measuring Systems (Hitec SMS), Almelo (Netherlands) with effect from 1 January 2014.

The company will be run under the name Phoenix Mecano SMS. Hitec SMS is a successful niche player in the field of high-precision measuring systems for electrical current. Its core product technology, known as zero-flux measurement, is used mainly in research laboratories as well as in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems, which enable the highly efficient transmission of electricity across large distances. HVDC systems are also used to connect offshore wind turbines to the alternating current (AC) network and to connect AC networks with different frequencies (e.g. 50/60-Hz networks).

The company will be integrated into the ELCOM/EMS division. It will be a key building block in the division’s ongoing realignment following its withdrawal from the production of toroidal transformers and chokes for solar inverters (former Datatel arm) due to changes in market conditions. This division already manufactures transformers and chokes for wind turbines and large scales solar power plants. Via its Wiener subsidiary, the ELCOM/EMS division has also been successfully producing special power supply systems and backplanes for physics research laboratories such as CERN for a number of years.

Hitec SMS generated sales of around € 6 million in 2013. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.