Newport to buy Picarro's Laser Products business

24 Oct 2006

Newport drives forward in booming solid state laser sector with acquisition set to turn over up to $7 million next year.

Newport is set to acquire the Laser Products business of Picarro. The Laser Products business, which is located in Ottawa, Canada, designs and manufactures solid- state lasers targeted primarily at the life and health sciences and process control markets, including the Cyan 488 nm blue laser.

The business will become a part of Newport's Spectra-Physics Lasers Division and is expected to have 2007 sales in the range of $5 to $7 million. The transaction is expected to close in early November after standard closing conditions are met. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"This acquisition will extend our Excelsior family of products by adding a compact 488 nm solid-state laser," said Robert Deuster, Newport's chairman and CEO.

"This laser, which has achieved design wins with several leading bio-instrumentation companies, fills a gap in Newport's laser product line for life and health sciences applications. The acquisition represents another step in our strategy to serve this growing market with integrated light-engine solutions."

Bill Gignac, president and CEO of Picarro, added, "With Newport's worldwide sales organization and complementary product lines, it is better positioned than Picarro to maximize the potential of our laser business and expand its ability to serve customers.

"At the same time, divesting the laser business allows Picarro to focus on our ultra-trace gas analyzer products. These products, based on our cavity ring down technology, have seen a significant increase in interest in the auto emissions, semiconductor process control, atmospheric monitoring and petro-chemical markets."