The Irvine operation of U.K.-based Meggitt Sensing Systems has been on a hiring push since consolidating its San Juan Capistrano and Londonderry, N.H., outfits less than two years ago.
The company, a unit of Meggitt PLC, added more than 70 employees in the past year and now employs 420 at its 190,000-square-foot factory and office near Jamboree Road and the 405 Freeway.
The 21.4% jump was the highest percentage increase among the largest defense contractors or aerospace companies in Orange County in the 12 months through March.
“The rise in employment at this facility supports planned growth related to a 22% rise in orders, compared to this time last year, largely in sensors and electronics for our aerospace and test and measurement markets,” said Stuart Parker, general manager for Meggitt’s Orange County operation. “There has also been a significant investment in the introduction and industrialization of new products.”
The local unit specializes in making and testing sensors for the aerospace, military, automotive and industrial industries. Its products are often used in extreme settings, such as rocket launches and automotive crash tests, among other settings.
The sensor division, which employs nearly 1,600 spread over locations in the U.S., France, Switzerland and Denmark, accounted for about 26% of Meggitt PLC’s $2.37 billion in sales last year.
Its customers include London-based engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC, Boeing Co., Airbus SA and Raytheon Co.
Meggitt PLC, OC’s 11th largest defense contractor and aerospace company, also houses its Meggitt Defense Systems unit in Irvine. The division, which makes combat systems and combat training systems, employs 223 at a 153,000-square-foot facility in Irvine Spectrum.
TTM Buy Closer to Close
TTM Technologies Inc.’s pending $927 million acquisition of St. Louis-based Viasystems Group Inc., a move that could create the world’s largest printed circuit board maker, earned a key approval as the deal makes its way through the regulatory process.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. determined the proposed marriage leaves “no unresolved national security concerns,” leaving the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s approval as the last major step needed to finalize the deal.
Costa Mesa-based TTM said it anticipates the transaction, which includes cash, stock and a debt swap, will close by June.
It would come more than two years after Viasystems bought Anaheim-based circuit board maker DDi Corp. for $268 million, ending DDi’s 12-year stint as a Nasdaq-listed stock.
The combined sales of TTM and Viasystems are about $2.5 billion, just behind No. 1, Tokyo-based Nippon Mektron Ltd., according to public filings and data from market researcher Prismark Partners LLC in New York. The combined company would have about 30,000 employees and 28 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and China.
Bits & Pieces
Santa Ana-based Universal Electronics Inc. scored a big win with TiVo Inc. to supply remote controls to the San Jose-based company’s customers in the U.S. and Canada. The deal expands a prior agreement in Europe with the TV services provider. … Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. was awarded a $6.1 million contract from a “major” defense contractor to manufacture ultra-secure receivers for GPS-guided munitions.
