Ultra acquires Siemens Radmon

The company, based in Poole, Dorset, England, employs forty eight staff. Revenue for the twelve months to September 2008 was about £5.5m. Ultra has concentrated its nuclear systems activities, both military and civil, in its Information & Power Systems division. The Group’s Command & Control Systems business is where the new, replacement Reactor Control & Instrumentation (‘RC&I’) system is being developed for the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactors that power UK submarines. Radmon has been contracted by Rolls-Royce to support the existing RC&I equipment that is fitted to the Royal Navy’s current submarine fleet and which will eventually be superseded by the new Ultra system. The major part of Radmon’s activity is the design, manufacture and support of specialist neutron and radioactivity sensors. These are highly synergistic with Ultra’s existing range of neutron flux detectors which are used to measure the level of nuclear fission activity within a reactor. The Winfrith activity within Command & Control Systems, acquired in 2006 and based at Winfrith in Dorset, supplies these sensors along with the associated superscreened cables and reactor protection systems to British Energy and Rolls-Royce. Radmon will continue to operate from its current location until the site lease expires in 2010. At that point operations will be relocated so as to maximise synergies with other parts of Ultra. The acquisition of Radmon will be financed using Ultra’s existing facilities and, after integration costs, is expected to be earnings neutral in 2008. Douglas Caster, Chief Executive of Ultra, commented: “Ultra has specialised skills and domain knowledge relating to the sensors and control systems that are required for the safe operation of modern nuclear reactors. This is a growing market both in the defence and civil sectors. In both markets, money must be spent on replacing and upgrading the existing installed systems whilst growing the capability to support new build in the future. This acquisition gives Ultra a strong UK market niche in neutron and radiation detection.”