Business briefs

23 Dec 2004

Including news from DRS Technologies, Sharp, Andor Technology, Jenoptik and more.

General company news:

•  Leica Geosystems, the Swiss metrology specialist, has delivered a fourth laser tracker device to the German car maker Volkswagen. The Leica LTD700 has been used at the firm’s Dresden manufacturing plant since August 2004 to check the alignment of assembly equipment. The tracker can perform 3000 measurements per second with an accuracy of 10 ppm.

•  Andor Technology, the Irish maker of high-performance CCD cameras for scientific applications, has floated on the London Stock Exchange and moved into new, purpose-built 50,000 sq. ft. premises in Belfast. Shares commenced trading at the beginning of December at 114p.

•  Sharp says that it will increase annual production of solar cells at its Katsuragi plant in Japan from its present 315 MW to 400 MW. According to the Japanese firm, the total amount of electrical energy generated by solar cells is expected to exceed 1.1GW in 2005.

Acquisitions:

•  DRS Technologies, the US imaging specialist, has acquired the Night Vision Equipment Company (NVEC) for $42.5 million in cash. NVEC manufactures image intensification and uncooled thermal imaging systems that are used in military applications. In the first 12 months under its new ownership it expects annuals revenue of between $45 and $50 million.

•  JAI, the Danish industrial vision expert, has acquired a 35% stake in the Japanese firm Micro Vision. The latter specialises in designing software and analog and digital circuitry for imaging applications.

Distribution agreements:

•  Jenoptik LOS of Germany has signed a distribution and manufacturing agreement with Infrared Solutions, the US supplier of infrared (IR) cameras. Jenoptik hopes that the partnership will result in increased sales of its VarioCAM range of cameras in the US.

•  nLight, the US developer of high-power laser diodes, has appointed Optoprim as the exclusive distributor of its products in France and Italy. Founded in France in 1964, Optoprim will be responsible for sales of nLight’s CW and QCW visible and near-infrared semiconductor lasers.

•  Pro-Lite Technology, the UK distributor of photonics equipment, has been selected as an authorized outlet for quantum cascade lasers made by Cascade Technologies. The latter is a Scottish start-up that was founded in 2003 to develop easy-to-use sources of tunable mid-infrared light and gas sensors.