Halma acquires photonic devices maker Avo Photonics for $9 million
Amersham, England--Halma acquired Avo Photonics (Horsham, PA) on 8 July 2011 for an initial cash consideration of $9.0 million. Halma is a sensor-technology, health, and safety group and is the parent company of integrating-sphere maker Labsphere (North Sutton, NH) and spectroscopy-products maker Ocean Optics (Dunedin, FL). Avo designs and produces a plethora of photonic components and subsystems, including lasers, IR imagers, fiber-coupled isolators and modulators, nonlinear optical devices, LIDAR components, photometers, and other devices.
Contingent consideration of up to $11.0 million (£6.9 million) is payable to the vendors based on the growth in profit before tax for the period ending March 2012.
Halma bought Avo from Blaine Hobson, Whitecap Partners, other shareholders. and employees. Avo will join Halma’s photonics businesses in the health and analysis sector. Avo’s senior management will stay with the company after completion of the acquisition.
For the calendar year 2010, Avo had unaudited revenues of $5.7 million and profit before tax of $1.0 million. The acquisition, which is immediately earnings enhancing, was funded from Halma’s existing cash and debt facilities.
"Avo recently completed a highly successful collaboration project with Halma’s major photonics business, Ocean Optics, and their addition to the Group will give all of our photonics businesses access to more advanced technologies and manufacturing processes," said Andrew Williams, Halma’s chief executive.
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John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.