ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss electronics company Cicor said on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire two production sites from Swiss peer Valtronic in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Morocco, which gives the firm its first U.S. location and expands its capacity in the African country.
Cicor did not detail the value of the transaction, but said it would grow by around 220 employees and gain added revenue of at least 20 million Swiss francs ($25 million), which could roughly double thanks to new customers in the U.S. business.
“This move meets the needs of Cicor customers to produce in the USA,” said Cicor in a statement, noting the move would strengthen its medical technology business in the United States.
“Setting up its own factory in the USA would have involved considerably higher investment and start-up costs for Cicor.”
The Valtronic site being purchased in Berrechid, Morocco, is in the same building as a facility Cicor acquired from France’s Eolane earlier this year and will double the Swiss company’s capacity at the location, it said.
Swiss companies currently face 39% tariffs to export goods into the United States. The Swiss government is working to try to secure lower tariffs with the Trump administration.
The current U.S. tariff rate on Morocco is 10%.
($1 = 0.7931 Swiss francs)
(Writing by Dave GrahamEditing by Ludwig Burger)
