Business briefs
17 Jun 2002
Including news from Cree, MicroEmissive Displays, Lumentis, VISX, Philips Lighting and more.
US-based
Cree plans to open an office in Tokyo, Japan by June 2002. Cree has also teamed up with
Sumitomo, which will gain exclusive Japanese distribution rights to Cree's LED chip and silicon carbide wafer products for a minimum of three years.
MicroEmissive Displays of the UK has received a USD 9 million investment consisting of venture capital, corporate investment, lease and loan financing.
3i led investment into the microdisplay manufacturer and was joined by existing and new investors including
Scottish Equity Partners and
European Venture Partners.
Sweden-based
Lumentis, a provider of metro DWDM systems, has won USD 19 million in second-round funding. Japanese components maker
Santec and
Deutsche Bank funded the round. Lumentis has joined forces with Santec in an agreement that includes R&D co-operation and the distribution of Lumentis' products into Asia.
VISX, a US maker of laser vision correction systems, has posted first-quarter revenues of USD 36.6 million, a decrease from the USD 50.5 million figure reported for the same period last year. Despite also posting a 48 % decrease in net income for the quarter, VISX chairman Liz Davilla said: "We are pleased to report solid first-quarter results. We anticipate that the US market will show year-over-year procedure growth."
Philips Lighting plans to reorganize four of its manufacturing plants in the Netherlands with the loss of 430 jobs. As a result, Philips expects to record restructuring charges of EURO 20 million (USD 17.6 million) during 2002.
Timken, US, has announced the commercial availability of its laser ultrasonic technology that aids steel manufacture. The measuring system ensures that steel tubes are produced with a uniform wall thickness reducing mill downtime by minimizing the need for sampling.
