WESTLAKE, OH-Nordson Corp. is acquiring UK-based Dage Holdings Ltd. (Aylesbury, England), a manufacturer of test and inspection equipment used in the semiconductor and printed circuit board industries. Dage employs approximately 200 and had revenues in the past 12 months of $59 million.

Dage's bond testing and digital X-ray systems are used to analyze the integrity of electronic connections in semiconductor packages and printed circuit board assemblies.

"The purchase of Dage fits Nordson's strategy of acquiring companies with above-average growth in markets currently served by Nordson companies," says Nordson CEO, Edward P. Campbell. "Over the 3-year period ending April 30, 2006, Dage revenues and operating profit grew at annual rates of 24 percent and 69 percent respectively. These growth rates are nearly identical to those of Nordson's Advanced Technology Systems segment, which since 2003 has grown revenues and operating profit at annual rates of 23 percent and 59 percent."

According to Campbell, Dage's current growth is being driven by consumer demand for high-performance and feature-rich capabilities in advanced electronic devices, such as MP3 players, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and game consoles.