Merger of AV&R Vision & Robotics and IMAC Automation

The two prosperous SMEs from Quebec unite their strengths in order to offer more complete automation, robotics and vision solutions to their customers.

MONTREAL, June 18, 2013 - AV&R Vision & Robotics, a company specializing in robotics for the aerospace industry, and IMAC Automation, company based in Saint-Bruno developing manufacturing automation and die casting equipment, are merging to become AV&R, Quebec's largest engineering firm specialized in automation.

The two prosperous SMEs from Quebec unite their strengths in order to offer more complete automation, robotics and vision solutions to their customers. The new AV&R group comprises today of more than 120 employees, including 80 engineering graduates, in its offices in the Old-Montreal and in Saint-Bruno.

This merger is made possible through the support of Fondaction CSN, financial partner since 2006, and by the financial contribution of the Solidarity Fund QFL.

"Fondaction is proud to support the merger of IMAC's automation cutting-edge expertise within AV&R. This merger will allow AV&R to continue its conquest of the world markets by offering an even more comprehensive expertise in the various fields of automation and robotics in particular for the aerospace industry" says GeneviÃ¨ve Morin, Investment Chief at Fondaction CSN.

"Quebec is a leader in the global aerospace market and this transaction proves it. The Solidarity Fund QFL is proud to count among its partners a company formed by the merger of two Quebec SMEs. This transaction will ensure a place in the global aerospace market for the new Quebec SME thanks to the expertise and the quality of its workers" stated Ga©tan Morin, Executive Vice-President, Investments at Solidarity Fund QFL.

AV&R now comprises three expertise enabling it to improve its offer to its local and international customers:

*AV&R Aerospace adds integration services to its expertise in automated visual inspection and robotic finishing, allowing it to automate complete production lines, thanks to the addition of IMAC Automation's veteran team;

*AV&R will continue to serve IMAC Automation's existing customers in Quebec in their various sectors with AV&R-IMAC, adding to its local offer skills in machine vision and robotic finishing;

*AV&R Die Casting expertise (formerly IMAC Die Casting) benefits from the offer of secondary operations integration in inspection or in robotic finishing to its product Cadence 100T and from the international notoriety of AV&R to set forth this innovative product.

The merger of AV&R Vision & Robotics and IMAC Automation, both already being well-known automation companies, enhances AV&R's notoriety around the world.

The Investment from the Solidarity Fund QFL is an agreement in principle with AV&R and is subject to final closing.

This compact 3D camera series combines a very short working distance, a large field of view and a high depth of field - perfect for bin picking applications. With its ability to capture multiple objects over a large area, it can help robots empty containers more efficiently. Now available from IDS Imaging Development Systems. In the color version of the Ensenso B, the stereo system is equipped with two RGB image sensors. This saves additional sensors and reduces installation space and hardware costs. Now, you can also choose your model to be equipped with two 5 MP mono sensors, achieving impressively high spatial precision. With enhanced sharpness and accuracy, you can tackle applications where absolute precision is essential. The great strength of the Ensenso B lies in the very precise detection of objects at close range. It offers a wide field of view and an impressively high depth of field. This means that the area in which an object is in focus is unusually large. At a distance of 30 centimetres between the camera and the object, the Z-accuracy is approx. 0.1 millimetres. The maximum working distance is 2 meters. This 3D camera series complies with protection class IP65/67 and is ideal for use in industrial environments.