Milexia: the European distributor of cutting-edge technology

The Milexia group, born out of the merger of two distributors (French and Italian), is expanding across Europe.

With sales of €140m and more than 200 employees across five European countries (including Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom), this value-added distributor assists its customers in making informed decisions about the selection and implementation of electronic components and sub-assemblies used by manufacturers in high-tech industries such as defence, space and transportation. The group has also expanded into two other fields: the distribution and maintenance of scientific instrumentation and the distribution of turnkey satellite communication solutions.

Milexia is part of a steadily growing market at the centre of the most pressing problems of the twenty-first century

 As a European leader in the high-tech industry, the Milexia Group helps its customers achieve better outcomes and provides them with easier access to innovative solutions to meet increasingly difficult and complex technological requirements.

Milexia provides unparalleled support to its customers in their search for equipment and systems, along with value-added services like technical design and maintenance, thanks to its team of technologists and engineers who are experts in numerous related products.

Milexia’s traditional markets – Defence, Space, Transportation, SatCom and Scientific Instrumentation – account for over 60% of the group’s revenue.

The Group’s product range and the expertise of its teams have also allowed it to develop a foothold in other, equally stable markets, such as the broader energy, aeronautics, medical and telecommunications sectors. These markets are predicted to grow annually at a rate of 5–15% until 2027, making them exceptionally robust.

Providing access to advanced technologies – the Milexia model’s strength

With teams based in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, Milexia assists customers with their projects and provides them with access to advanced technologies. In fact, that is the group’s mantra: making access to advanced technology easier for everyone.

Milexia has been active in the cutting-edge technology market for 30 years, serving over 2300 customers, half of whom are key accounts in France and Europe.

Milexia’s teams are true experts in the field of electronics, having been trained by its Partners to deliver tailored support throughout the customer’s project cycle.

But how does the group select its global Partners? Milexia chooses its Partners carefully based on their track records of providing innovative technologies, a comprehensive range of complementary products and maintaining the highest quality standards. Plain and simple.

What is the added value of these collaborations? They make it possible for us to be involved in the early stages of our customers’ future projects when they are still in the innovation and design phases so that we can build bespoke solutions tailored to their specific needs with them.

The semiconductor supply crisis and its development

During the Covid-19-related semiconductor product supply crisis, which coincided with a surge in demand (mainly due to lockdown and remote working), manufacturers preferred sales channels via value-added distributors because of their familiarity with market constraints and needs.

Although there are still significant disparities between product families, the overall situation in the semiconductor market has “eased” since Q4 2022, with delivery times getting shorter and prices stabilising at a high level.

Major investments in manufacturing over the previous two years will pay off in full production capacity within the next year or two, allowing us to meet these difficulties better.

The European semiconductor components market remains strong, with 3.9% growth anticipated between 2022 and 2025, compared to 1.7% globally.

With Europe seeking to double its potential independence by 2030 (doubling its needs for electronic components, primarily semiconductors), the goal is to increase the share of components produced and used in Europe from 10% to 20%, in other words, to quadruple European manufacturing capacity!

A determined and driven group that relies on acquisitions to better meet market demands and customer expectations

In its latest five-year plan, the Milexia group is aiming for substantial growth. This ambitious goal will help the group maintain its competitive edge in these markets, allowing it to serve its customers and Partners better.

Milexia intends to leverage several factors to empower it to meet these ambitions:

• Internal growth: expanding its product range while providing its customers with access to historically local products
• External growth: the group has completed five major acquisitions in its core countries over the past five years. Composants Électroniques Lyonnais, a company currently active in the highly dynamic rail sector, is Milexia’s sixth and most recent acquisition in France, demonstrating the group’s enterprising nature.

This growth objective is based on a solid acquisition strategy within the group’s core countries and beyond to expand its product range and integration services to serve its customers better.

Always one step ahead, this is also a means for Milexia to position itself in new services, in particular obsolescence management, prototyping, testing and validation. We recognise the importance of these services in tackling the technology challenges of the twenty-first century. This represents a valuable opportunity for Milexia and its customers.

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