Securities Times reporter Hu Minwen

On the evening of January 8, Lingyunguang (688400) announced that as of January 7, 2025, the relevant equity delivery conditions agreed on the acquisition of JAI's equity have been fully met, and the cash consideration is 102.5 million euros. The Company has acquired 99.95% of the equity interest in JAI (of which 4.38% is treasury shares) and 0.05% of the equity interest held by minority shareholders controlled by JAIGROUPHOLDINGApS in accordance with the transaction agreement, and has paid all the transaction considerations.

On the basis of years of independent research and development in the field of upstream core visual devices and software algorithms, Lingyunguang has laid out chips, lenses, AI large models and other fields through equity investment and business cooperation.

JAI is a global leader in the machine vision industry, which is mainly engaged in the design, research and development, production and sales of industrial area scan and line scan cameras, with a variety of standard industrial camera products with rich functions and reliable quality, widely used in Industry 4.0, semiconductor inspection, food sorting, life sciences and other fields, and has a good market share and customer reputation in high-end markets such as Europe, the United States and Japan.

In the 2022~2023 fiscal year, JAI achieved operating income of 42.49 million euros and 34.23 million euros, and net profit of 5.04 million euros and 3.43 million euros, respectively. As of the end of March 2024, the total book value of assets related to all industrial camera businesses under JAIA/S was EUR 37.23 million, and the owner's equity was EUR 20.16 million. The premium for the acquisition is more than 400% relative to the transaction consideration.

In terms of the source of funds, on December 6, 2024, Lingyunguang issued a private placement plan, intending to issue A-shares to specific targets, with a total amount of funds raised not exceeding 785 million yuan, and all the net funds raised after deducting the issuance costs will be invested in the acquisition of 100% equity of JAI Company.

It is reported that Lingyunguang has a history of cooperation with JAI for more than 20 years, and the company has acted as an agent for JAI's business and purchased industrial camera products from it. At the same time, the company and JAI belong to the upstream and downstream of the machine vision industry chain, in terms of technology and products, the company mainly provides comprehensive machine vision solutions and equipment, JAI mainly provides key components in machine vision solutions, and the products and core technologies are highly complementary; In terms of business layout, the company's main business is in China, while JAI's main business is concentrated abroad, and the two sides have a high degree of complementarity in business layout.

Lingyunguang said that through the acquisition of JAI's industrial camera business, it is conducive to expanding the company's optical imaging technology capabilities, improving the standard product matrix of visual devices, improving the technology and quality of independent cameras, and expanding the product layout of downstream industries. With JAI's industrial camera technology and the advantages of the company's AI software algorithms, it can greatly enhance the company's core capabilities in the field of "vision + AI" and provide customers with richer and better machine vision products and solutions. This acquisition is conducive to the company's realization of localized substitution in more aspects of machine vision, enhancing the independent and controllable ability of core devices, breaking the monopoly of foreign technology, and reducing R&D costs.