DARMSTADT, GERMANY - Machine vision and surface-inspection system supplier ISRA Vision has acquired a 24% minority interest in Vistek, a Turkish company based in Istanbul. Vistek is expected to achieve a total result of almost 1 million euros in 2009. Under the terms agreed, ISRA is to fully acquire Vistek within the next three to four years, on the basis of an earn-out model and a corresponding EBIT valuation.

Investing in the Istanbul-based machine-vision specialist will open up additional growth opportunities for ISRA, according to the company, by allowing it to intensify its market penetration in Turkey as well as the Middle East and central Asia. The ISRA team already working in Turkey is to be integrated into Vistek; the ISRA sales manager will assume responsibility for joint distribution activities. With expanded on-site service and support, ISRA expects to boost customer benefit throughout the region. ISRA also will exploit Vistek's added application expertise to acquire customers in new market segments, such as ceramics, glass containers and thermal imaging.

Vistek was founded by professor Aytul Ercil as a spin-off company of Sabanci University, maintaining a close collaboration with the university. A developer of machine-vision solutions, the firm has participated in numerous domestic and international projects. Sabanci maintains Turkey's advanced machine-vision laboratory and has been recognized as a "Potential Center Of Excellence" by the European Union. This R&D partnership will be continued by ISRA.

For more information, visit www.isravision.com.