Top high-tech manufacturer Rakon gets Californian takeover offer

Monday, 12 January 2026

Rakon makes high-tech componentry at its Auckland premises destined for markets around the world, and has in recent years become attractive to international would-be buyers.

One of New Zealand’s most advanced high tech manufacturers, NZX-listed Rakon, has this morning told the market of a takeover offer.

Rakon, which makes specialist systems for satellites, telecommunications, and computing companies, said it had received an offer for 100% of its shares from California-based Bourns Inc., a privately held global manufacturer and supplier of position and speed sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic components, microelectronic modules and panel controls.

Bourns would pay $1.55 per share and share right for the company, valuing it at $356 million. That is a significant premium on the current price of the stock, which is trading at 90cps.

Rakon’s major shareholders - interests associated with the family of founder Warren Robinson, Mike Daniel and Taiwan’s Siward Crystal Technology Co. - have entered “lock-up” arrangements with Bourns, meaning they are prohibited from selling or transferring their shares while the takeover offer is considered. The move does not signal that they necessarily support the offer.

Robinson and his brother Darren and a family trust own nearly 20% of the company while Siward holds 12.19%. Alongside Daniels, the trio own about a third of the company.

Meanwhile, an independent committee (IC) of the Rakon board, comprising independent directors Chris Swasbrook and Greg Barclay, has been established to manage engagement with Bourns and respond to the offer, and Calibre Partners will assess it. Shareholders have been advised to take no action until the company is in receipt of the full offer and that official assessments of its merit.

Under NZX rules, if Bourns proceeds to make a takeover offer, it now has to do so within 10-20 working days from today. The offer is contingent on 90% of shareholders accepting it and still has to meet regulatory approval from the Overseas Investment Office.

Performance

2025 for Rakon was characterised by a positive business performance, but there was also a stoush at board level to contend with.

In August the company told shareholders that it was projecting underlying earnings of $15m - $24m in the year to March 2026, up from $9.5m in 2025, with growth in aerospace and defence underpinning the rise. The start of significant revenue from AI and cloud computing infrastructure was also a factor.

The company had started doing more advanced manufacturing at its plant in India during the 2025 year.

Around the same time, there were ructions when the company attempted to replace outgoing chairperson Lorraine Witten with high profile expat American businessman Dr Mark Bregman, alongside Dr Lisbeth Jacobs and Jon Raby as new independent directors. This was at first proposed and supported by Rakon’s board.

But when Brent Robinson, a non-independent director and the son of company founder Warren Robinson, said he wanted to be chairperson, he and non-independent director, Siward Crystal Technology president Jung Meng Tseng, withdrew their support for the election of Bregman, Jacobs and Raby.

Ultimately, after a fractious meeting in August, Bregman, Jacobs and Raby stood down.

Previous takeover

One of the reasons Robinson gave for wanting to wrestle back control of the board was, he said, Rakon’s handling of a $391m takeover bid launched in early 2024 by an unnamed third party.

It was a disappointing time for a number of shareholders, who had waited for the company to cash in on what was widely considered to be enormous financial promise. Rakon had, for example, paid its first-ever dividend only in 2023 - a modest 1.5cps - about 17 years after it first listed in 2006.

But Rakon has seen its stock rise and its business become a takeover target in recent years as its technology is used in increasingly commonplace 5G networks, autonomous vehicles, and cloud computing architecture.

The company now operates plants manufacturing plants in New Zealand, France, India, and China, and is a long-standing supplier to the likes of Nasa and defence contractors, supplying components for satellite constellations and exploration.