Ardian explores multibillion-dollar sale of industrial memory maker Swissbit
Ardian is weighing a sale of Swissbit, the Swiss maker of industrial data storage and security hardware, Bloomberg reported.
The potential valuation rests on Swissbit’s earnings power, with the company generating annual earnings of around $250m.
On that basis, a disposal at several times that figure would rank among the larger European technology hardware exits of the year. The people cautioned that deliberations remain at an early stage and there is no certainty Ardian will proceed.
The private equity firm has enlisted UBS to help gauge interest from potential buyers as it prepares to test the market.
Whether the process converts into a transaction will depend on the interest UBS surfaces, and buyers could include both strategic acquirers in industrial electronics and rival financial sponsors drawn to a niche, cash-generative asset.
Headquartered in Bronschhofen, Switzerland, Swissbit designs storage and security products for industrial and technology infrastructure, and, unlike consumer-grade flash memory suppliers, builds devices engineered to operate in extreme environments. It runs a semiconductor and electronics production facility in Berlin.
The business was created in 2001 through a management buyout of Siemens’ memory division, giving it more than two decades of operating history in a defensible corner of the memory market. Ardian acquired a majority stake in Swissbit in 2020.
For Ardian, testing the market allows it to weigh a full exit against the interest on offer, without committing to a sale before the numbers are clear.