WEST WARWICK – AstroNova Inc. on Wednesday entered into an agreement to be acquired by Tennessee-based private equity firm Arcline Investment Management in an all-cash transaction of approximately $272 million.
AstroNova shareholders will receive $29 per share. The company will become privately held upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
The per share purchase price represents a premium of approximately 209% over AstroNova’s unaffected closing share price on April 6 and a premium of approximately 120% over the volume-weighted average price of AstroNova common stock for the 90 days ending June 16.
Upon closing, MergerCo, an affiliate of Arcline Investment Management, will merge with AstroNova as a wholly owned subsidiary of Orion Merger Parent, another Arcline affiliate, according to TradingView.
The transaction requires approval by AstroNova stockholders and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“This transaction marks an important milestone for AstroNova. Our teams have worked hard over the last year to strengthen the business and position the company for sustainable growth,” said Jorik Ittmann, CEO and president of AstroNova. “Arcline’s interest in our entire enterprise –
from our technologies, products, and strategy to our people and customers –
makes them the right partner for AstroNova’s next chapter.”
Founded in 1969, AstroNova is a maker of specialty printers and computer hardware and houses its global headquarters at 600 East Greenwich Ave. in West Warwick. It has manufacturing facilities in Elk Grove, Ill., Brossard, Canada, Mexico City as well as Europe, Middle East, Asia and Asia-Pacific.
AstroNova employs 400 people in West Warwick, according to Providence Business News 2026 Book of Lists.
It was unclear if this transaction would affect staffing or operations at the West Warwick facility. Representatives from AstroNova did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the summer of 2025, AstroNova Inc. faced a proxy battle with Texas-based activist investor, Askeladden Capital Management LLC, which owns a 9.1% stake in the company.
In a proxy statement in April 2025, Askeladden Capital owner Samir Patel claimed AstroNova had suffered several strategic and operational missteps since fiscal 2022, which included an ink-quality issue that persisted for four years and the company spending $18.76 million in cash and assuming $3.4 million in debt from acquiring Portugal-based printing firm MTEX in May 2024.
The proxy war ended in August 2025 when Ittmann took over as CEO and president of AstroNova and Shawn Kravetz was appointed to the board of directors as an independent director and member of the nominating and governance committee.
In May, AstroNova reached a settlement agreement that resolves all ongoing arbitration and legal disputes tied to the acquisition of MTEX.
For the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, AstroNova posted a loss of $2.4 million, or 31 cents per diluted share. Yet that was an improvement from the $14.5 million loss the company reported the year prior.
The full-year revenue, which AstroNova considers fiscal 2026, totaled $150.2 million, a decrease from $151.2 million a year prior.
The narrowed loss was largely because the company had taken a $13.4 million goodwill impairment charge in fiscal 2025 in the wake of its acquisition of MTEX when the value of MTEX assets were written down. There were no goodwill impairment charges in fiscal 2026.
The company followed with a $653,000 profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, after posting a $376,000 loss in the first quarter last year.
