Gooch & Housego poised for private equity buyout

Gooch & Housego (G&H), the London-listed optics and photonics company with operations across the UK and US, is set to be acquired by private equity firm Arlington Capital.

G&H executives have accepted a cash offer from Arlington that implies an enterprise value of just over £400 million, equivalent to 1230p per G&H share. That represented a 40 per cent premium on G&H’s stock price just prior to news of the bid on July 16.

The deal, which remains subject to regulatory clearance under the UK’s National Security and Investment Act, as well as approval by 75 per cent of G&H shareholders, would see the company join an Arlington portfolio that includes a number of companies operating in the aerospace and defense and healthcare sectors - two of G&H’s three major verticals alongside industrial lasers.

Its product lines for aerospace and defense include optical components and subsystems used in periscopes, directed-energy weapons, infrared countermeasures, space-based laser communications, and super-polished components for ring-laser gyroscopes.

In healthcare, G&H provides optical components and lens assemblies for medical devices as well as subsystems and full system solutions for medical diagnostic instruments including optical coherence tomography.

Immediate and certain value

According to a stock market filing by G&H, the acquisition is expected to be completed during the closing quarter of 2026.

G&H chairman Gary Bullard said in that filing: “G&H has established a leading position in the photonics industry, designing and manufacturing advanced optical components and complex systems for critical applications across aerospace and defence, industrial and life sciences markets.”

Bullard added that while the G&H board of directors was confident in the company’s standalone strategy, the Arlington offer provided shareholders with “immediate and certain value” in cash at a significant premium to recent stock price performance - and that the board intended to recommend the deal unanimously.

Arlington managing partner Peter Manos commented: “G&H has built an exceptional reputation as a precision photonics and optical systems supplier to the aerospace, defense, industrial, and life sciences end markets.

“These technologies are increasingly critical to next-generation optical and sensing applications and we are excited to partner with [G&H CEO] Charlie Peppiatt, [CFO] James Corte, and G&H’s existing management team to address the rising needs of their growing customer base.”

Ben Ramundo, the managing director at Arlington, added: “We look forward to leveraging our experience growing advanced manufacturing platforms to deliver the valuable combination of scale and scientific precision to G&H’s customers.

“With a longer-term horizon for investing in sovereign capacity, innovation and human capital, G&H can not only strengthen today’s foundation but also establish itself as a market leader in the photonics and optical applications of tomorrow.”

Last month G&H reported interim sales of £81.9 million for the six months ending March 31 - up 16 per cent on the same period last year, with the firm's aerospace and defense business unit contributing £35.6 million to that total as divisional sales jumped more than 50 per cent.