(Tokyo, 19 October 2023) Trustar Capital (formerly known as CITIC Capital Partners), a private equity affiliate of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, announced today that it has completed the sale of 100% of the shares of Moritex Corporation (“Moritex” or the “Company”) held by its second Japan buyout fund (“Trustar Capital Japan fund”) to Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) (“Cognex”). Trustar Capital has previously announced the agreement with Cognex regarding the transaction on 30 August. Moritex marked the tenth exit for Trustar Capital Japan Partners, which was founded in 2004.
Established in 1973, Moritex is engaged in the development, manufacture and sales of machine vision systems such as high-spec lens and lighting for industrial use, and medical and cosmetic equipment. With its technological advantage of combining lens and light design, Moritex has established a strong customer base in each of its business segments. One of its core business segments, Machine Vision, has built a solid customer base including blue-chip international companies.
Masahiro ITO, Senior Managing Director of CITIC Capital Holdings and Head of Japan Private Equity of Trustar Capital, said: “We are pleased with the sale of Moritex and the work we have built together. Moritex was already a leader in high-end Machine vision lens and lighting solution when we acquired them, but mainly focused on domestic Japanese semiconductor clients. We saw huge potential of them to expand overseas and hence we also acquired their overseas bases which enhanced smoother work with its Japan headquarters, and enlarged their overseas business. We also saw the opportunity to cultivate other applications in the electronics and automotive industries, which had increasing demand for higher precision components and associated automatic inspection.”
“A big part of our early effort was to help them reorganize the multiple companies that were under a Japan-based parent but remained standalone corporate entities for each overseas market. We created a single consolidated entity and simplified its management system, introduced suitable incentive plan, controlled the pricing, and shifted their production base, which greatly improved their cross-border collaboration and profitability.”
“We are proud of the work we have done for our investors and the partnership with Moritex. Bringing in Cognex will definitely create tremendous synergies and enhanced value with their unique brands, technologies, customer base and sales network, material procurement capabilities and other managerial resources, and position them for long-term success.”
Since the investment in January 2015, Trustar Capital led Moritex’s growth by strengthening its business foundation and capturing further growth potential, through setting new business strategy, developing global platform and customer base, and implementing a series of operational improvements. Moritex had achieved transformation focusing on the high value-added products leveraging its distinguished technologies and experiences in machine vision system, and Trustar Capital Group’s global network and resources. Under Trustar Capital’s ownership, Moritex has reinforced its presence in machine vision system market establishing solid positioning in diverse customer base, accelerating expansion to overseas, and achieved strong growth globally as well as significant profitability enhancement through various initiatives.
Cognex is a world leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 4 million image-based products, representing over $10 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company’s founding in 1981. Headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Cognex has offices and distributors located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit https://www.cognex.com/
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About Moritex Corporation
Established: 1973
Representative: Takao SATO, President and CEO
Headquarters: Kanagawa, Japan
Website: https://moritex.com/index.html
About Trustar Capital
Trustar Capital (formerly known as CITIC Capital Partners), focuses on control buyout opportunities globally and has completed around 100 investments since inception across China, Japan, U.S., Europe, etc. Trustar Capital currently manages USD8.6 billion of committed capital. For more information, please visit www.citiccapital.com.
Trustar Capital is a private equity affiliate of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, founded in 2002, CITIC Capital Holdings Limited is an alternative investment management and advisory company. The firm manages over USD17.6 billion of capital across 100 funds and investment products through its multiple asset class platform covering private equity, real estate, structured investment & finance, and asset management. CITIC Capital has over 290 portfolio companies that span 11 sectors and employ over 600,000 people around the world.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Cindy TAM
Director, Corporate Relations
CITIC Capital Holdings Limited
Tel: +852 3710 6813
cindytam@citiccapital.com
Irene GAO
Senior Associate, Corporate Relations
Citic Capital Holdings Limited
Tel: +852 3710 6814
irenegao@citiccapital.com
Masahiro ITO
Senior Managing Director of CITIC Capital Holdings and Head of Japan Private Equity of Trustar Capital
Tel: +81 3 5211-3830