On a quest to bolster its life-sci contracting bona fides, self-described “multifaceted manufacturer” Kimball Electronics is going down the path of M&A.
The Jasper, Indiana-headquartered electronics and medical contract manufacturer is putting up 90 million euros, or roughly $103 million, to acquire European CDMO Helvoet Polymer Technologies. The deal is slated to expand Kimball’s production footprint by bringing facilities in the Netherlands and India into the company’s fold, according to a July 1 press release.
Across its production facilities in Tilburg, Netherlands and Pune, India, the Dutch firm Helvoet focuses a large portion of its contract manufacturing operations around microfluidics, diagnostics and drug delivery, per Kimball. The CDMO, which was founded back in 1939, recently operated under the wing of Hydratec Industries and generated 2025 sales of roughly $56 million.
More than 70% of Helvoet’s haul last year came from medical customers, with Kimball crediting the remaining balance to “other end markets that deliver strong margins and support continued reinvestment in the medical business.”
For its part, Kimball already boasts a new biopharma contract manufacturing facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, which the company has kitted out to support product design, sterilization and sterile packaging, cold chain logistics, contract manufacturing and more.
Kimball notes on its website that, as far as its life sciences services go, the company’s projects run the gamut from combination and pharmaceutical products to medical and plastic injection molded devices.
“Finding the right partner to take this business to the next level was critical, and in Kimball we found just that,” Helvoet CEO Eveline Hogenkamp said of her company’s decision to sell in a statement Wednesday. “Their Indianapolis facility, customer relationships, and operational capabilities are precisely what we need to scale our U.S. presence and win larger, more complex programs.”
Helvoet’s current leadership team will remain in place, including Hogenkamp, Kimball assured in its release.
Helvoet specifically undertakes contract manufacturing projects focused on components in polymers and elastomers used in applications across health tech, food tech, new energy and mobility. On its website, Helvoet notes that its products and assemblies rely on injection molding of rubber and plastics.
In health tech, the company boasts capabilities around production of syringes and blood tests, among other diagnostics, drug delivery and medical devices.
“Helvoet is exactly the type of acquisition we’ve been building toward, a highly specialized medical CDMO with comprehensive capabilities in microfluidics, diagnostics, and drug delivery, serving blue-chip customers in the fastest-growing segments of healthcare,” Kimball’s helmsman, Richard Phillips, said in a statement.
He added that, “The acquisition is central to our strategy of establishing Kimball as a true global medical CMO platform with a strengthened presence in Europe, access to the India market, and a clear path for accelerating growth in the U.S. by leveraging our new manufacturing facility in Indianapolis.”
All told, the deal is expected to start paying off for Kimball next year. The company said it expects the transaction to boost its medical sales “in the low double-digit range.”