Coherent buys some StockerYale operations for $15M

Coherent buys North American operations of StockerYale for $15 million in cash

• On 11:57 am EDT, Wednesday October 14, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- Coherent Inc., which makes lasers for commercial and scientific uses, said Wednesday it has acquired the North American operations of StockerYale Inc. for $15 million cash.

The company said it acquired all the assets and certain operating liabilities of StockerYale's laser module product line in Montreal and its specialty fiber product line in Salem, N.H. StockerYale designs and manufactures light lasers, LED modules and specialty optical fibers.

"In acquiring these two product lines, we gain access to the machine vision market and expand our bioinstrumentation opportunities through the laser diode module business," John Ambroseo, Coherent's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

"We also add core fiber technology, which will improve our time to market and enhance both the performance and reliability of our fiber-based product platforms," he said.

As part of the transaction, StockerYale said it retired senior debt totaling $3.6 million and a $3.5 million line of credit.

It will continue to operate StockerYale Ireland, which manufacturers LED systems, and Photonic Products Ltd., which distributes premium laser diodes and manufactures custom laser modules. Those units accounted for about 47 percent of StockerYale's total revenue in 2008.

StockerYale's chairman and CEO, Mark W. Blodgett, said the sale enables the company to "significantly reduce debt" and focus its resources on expanding its LED systems and Photonic Products businesses.

Shares of Coherent rose 95 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $25.83 in midday trading.

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