Teradyne announces acquisition of Universal Robots, the Danish pioneer of collaborative robots, for $285 million.

Teradyne, Inc. and the shareholders of Universal Robots (UR) today announced they have signed a definitive agreement under which Teradyne will acquire privately held Universal Robots, the Danish pioneer of collaborative robots, for $285 million net of cash acquired plus $65 million if certain performance targets are met extending through 2018.

The acquisition has been approved by the Board of Directors of each company and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

Universal Robots is the leading supplier of collaborative robots; low-cost, easy-to-deploy and simple-to -program robots that work side by side with production workers to improve quality and increase manufacturing efficiency. Collaborative robotics is a $100 million segment of the industrial robotics market growing at more than 50% per year.

Universal Robots achieved record revenue growth in 2014. Company revenue increased 70 percent from 2013 reaching more than $38 million USD with profit more than doubling from the prior period.

The Danish Growth Fund, (Vækstfonden), has been the company’s main investor since 2008.