American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC), an energy technologies company, announced Wednesday its acquisition of Power Quality Systems, Inc. (PQS), a manufacturer of reactive compensation products known as Static VAR Compensators (SVCs), for $3.8 million.
The transaction is expected to be completed in April 2007.
PQS, headquartered in West Mifflin, Penn., produces SVCs based on its proprietary thyristor switch technology. The products enhance the reliability of power transmission and distribution grids and improve the quality of power for manufacturing operations.
With this acquisition, AMSC is planning to offer SVC systems that are lower in initial costs, and lower in energy and maintenance costs and offer a smaller footprint compared to conventional products.
According to Greg Yurek, founder and CEO of AMSC, the combination of the two companies will allow AMSC to address larger-scale SVC order opportunities from utilities.
"The addressable market for large-scale SVC solutions in the U.S. alone is approximately $100 million annually, and it is increasing rapidly as electric utilities focus on strengthening the nation's transmission infrastructure," said Yurek.
AMSC, based in Westborough, Mass., expects to keep all key PQS engineering personnel with the company.