Coherent, Inc. to acquire Excel Technology, Inc.
The acquisition will be an all-cash transaction at a price of $30.00 per share of Excel Technology, Inc. common stock, for a total approximate offer value of $376 million before fees and transaction costs. Coherent intends to pay the aggregate purchase price through a combination of available cash and external financing. The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval by Excel Technology, Inc. shareholders, and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the third fiscal quarter of 2006. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the impact of any acquisition and purchase accounting related charges, the transaction is expected to be modestly accretive to Coherent for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2006 and has the potential to be meaningfully accretive for the first full fiscal year ending September 2007.
"Over the last several months, we have been highlighting the long-term growth potential of the materials processing market as well as the need for consolidation in the photonics industry," said John Ambroseo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coherent, Inc. "The acquisition of Excel Technology addresses both points. The combined product portfolio provides the broadest set of materials processing solutions from components, to lasers, to subsystems, and systems. In addition, we will be able to offer the most comprehensive application and process development capabilities in the industry. These factors should lead to wider market penetration.
We expect to augment these customer benefits with an enhanced cost of ownership resulting from economies of scale in distribution, R&D, administration and supply chain. We believe our shareholders will benefit from the accretive nature of this transaction," Ambroseo added.
Antoine Dominic, Excel Technology, Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "The continuing evolution of the photonics industry favours companies that can drive rapid product and application development while improving their own fundamentals. While Excel Technology has done this well over recent years, by joining forces with a laser industry leader like Coherent, market penetration and adoption can be accelerated. This is especially true since we have a similar vision for the materials processing market."
