British engineering firm Smiths Group said yesterday that it would pay up to €24 million to acquire the Cork technology company Farran Technology.

The firm, which specialises in detection equipment for hidden weapons, will pay an initial €19 million to Farran Technology's shareholders. Smiths Group will pay up to an extra €5 million depending on the future performance of the Cork company.

Bank of Ireland's Kernel Capital Partners Private Equity Fund is among the benefactors of the deal. It held a 19 per cent stake in Farran Technology, which specialises in developing technology that can detect explosives.

Other beneficiaries include the venture capital group Delta Partners, some of the firm's original founders and management.

Mr Tony McEnroe, managing director of Farran Technology, said the firm would gain access to a huge range of international markets by becoming part of the Smiths Group.

Farran Technology was one of the first companies to spin off from the National Microelectronics Research Centre in Cork back in 1977. It develops specialised millimetre wave technology, which can be used for a range of industries, from detection to space flight.

Using the electronic magnetic radiation that is naturally emitted by all objects, Farran Technology applies its technology to create an image that pinpoints the presence on a person of metallic, ceramic and plastic explosives.

One of the Smiths Group's core divisions, Smith Detection, is a world leader in these types of detection technologies, which are deployed at airports worldwide.

Just last month, Farran Technology clinched a multimillion-euro deal to supply specialist equipment for China's space programme. The company's millimetre wave technology will be used to assist the Shanghai Spaceflight Institute to develop scientific electronics for use in planned weather observation satellites.

Ion Equity was the corporate finance adviser to Farran on the deal, and Ronan Daly Jermyn was the legal adviser.