Wilsonville-based display company Avocor has been acquired by one of the world’s largest display screen technology manufacturers.
Taiwan-based AUO Corp. bought Avocor to roll the 9-year-old company into its AUO Display Plus (ADP) business, which makes smart display systems for a variety of customers across health care, mobility, enterprise and education. Avocor has built its brand and business serving the enterprise and education sectors.
That, said Avocor co-founder and CEO Scott Hix, is why AUO was interested in adding Avocor to its ADP business unit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Avocor was the region's fastest-growing company of 2020, per the Portland Business Journal's Private 100 List.
Not only is the entire 57-person Avocor team moving to the new owner, but Hix is assuming a number of leadership positions within the global company. In addition to being CEO of Avocor, he is also general manager of the AUO Education and Enterprise business, so everyone in that global segment will report to him and he in turn will report to AUO CEO Frank Ko. Hix has also been tapped to be chief marketing officer for AUO.
“For Avocor, a Wilsonville-based global company of 57 people, we are now part of one of the largest display companies globally,” said Hix, adding that it means the company now has an “enormous” balance sheet that it can now tap for investments across operations and supply chain.
“We will start to beef up our regional operations footprint (of) service, technical support and logistics,” he said. "Wilsonville is home base. There should be more jobs and opportunities here in Oregon with Avocor as an AUO company,” he said.
Avocor was founded in 2016. The company makes digital interactive displays that include both hardware and software. The display technology in its systems is manufactured by AUO. In 2022, Avocor had $27.3 million in revenue, according to the 2023 Business Journal Middle Markets List.
This acquisition is the culmination of a three-year relationship between the two companies. It started as an investment in Avocor by AUO, said Hix. The Avocor team identified several large display companies to approach for strategic investment, and at the same time AUO was building out its service and product side.
As Avocor grew, Hix, who has had a long career in the display industry, knew the small company would need a big partner to compete in a global commoditized market. Hix tapped the network he built from decades in the industry to get an initial meeting with Ko. For AUO, Avocor’s product and partnership deals with companies like Google, Logitech and Microsoft was an attractive way to quickly beef up its education and enterprise business.
"We are excited to embark on this journey with Avocor," said AUO's Ko, in a. written statement. "This strategic move will further strengthen our presence in the solution business while also amplifying the cross-business synergies within the AUO group."
AUO, which was founded in 1996, has 38,000 global employees. Last year, the company had consolidated net revenue of $8.07 billion.
