National Instruments to Acquire AWR Corporation for $58M

National Instruments NATI today announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement under which NI will acquire AWR Corporation. Upon the closing of the transaction, AWR will continue to operate as a wholly owned NI subsidiary under the leadership of the existing management team. The fast design cycles and increasing complexity of RF and wireless systems demand better integration between design and test. RF system designers need to validate their simulations with actual measurements, while RF test engineers need to increase test reuse and decrease test time through more design integration. By increasing the effectiveness of the integration between AWR design tools and NI software and hardware, NI and AWR together can significantly improve customer productivity through increased connectivity between design, validation and production test functions. The aggregate purchase price to be paid at closing is approximately $58 million, which includes $7 million in cash on the AWR balance sheet. In addition, the merger agreement contains an earn-out provision, which is payable over three years. The transaction is expected to close within 30-45 days and is subject to customary closing conditions including Hart-Scott-Rodino regulatory clearance.