Keysight expands in Europe

Article Excerpt

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $155 is still a buy for aggressive investors. The company (New York symbol KEYS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 177.8 million; Market cap: $27.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.1; No dividend paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.keysight.com) makes an array of devices for testing electronic equipment. The company has now acquired 98.2% of the shares in ESI Group. Based in France, ESI makes software that simulates a product’s behaviour during the testing process and so its real-life use. The acquisition enhances Keysight’s simulation software expertise and provides it with regular revenue streams. Keysight will soon increase its ESI stake to 100%. In all, it will pay roughly $969 million for the firm. The new operations will add about $142 million to the company’s annual revenue of $5.5 billion. Keysight Technologies is a buy. buy…