Electronic components manufacturer Acal has agreed to acquire France-based electronic and photonic components distributor BFi Optilas in a cash-and-stock deal. Under the deal approved by its board, Acal will pay BFi’s owners €10 million ($14.7 million) in cash and issue 2 million shares of stock to acquire the business, a privately owned company founded in 1955. From its headquarters outside Paris, BFi Optilas distributes electronic and photonic components, modules and systems across Europe. It made €105 million ($155 million) in revenue for the year to June 2009, compared with €128 million ($189 million) in the previous year. The Acal group provides sales, marketing and other services across Europe through its Electronics, Supply Chain and Medical divisions. CEO Nick Jefferies said the acquisition of BFi Optilas represents a key step in its specialization strategy. “By bringing the two businesses together, we are creating a clearly differentiated specialist, providing electronic and photonic products and services to over 14,000 customers across Europe. This transaction creates the scale required to succeed in the key European markets and enables substantial operational synergies,” he said. Those “synergies,” corporate talk for savings made through economies of scale, are expected to be in excess of €5 million ($7.3 million), the company said. For more information, visit: www.acaltechnology.com