October 27--Coherent has received a prohibition order from the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) regarding its proposed acquisition of Excel Technology. The acquisition had previously been approved by antitrust authorities in the U.S. None of the remedy proposals offered by Coherent to the FCO addressing the overlap in the low-power CO2 laser market were satisfactory to the FCO.
John Ambroseo, Coherent's president and CEO, said, "While we are clearly very disappointed and disagree with the FCO's decision, we remain committed to accomplishing acquisitions that meet all our criteria for growth, diversification and finanical performance. Coherent remains focused on executing on the underlying fundamentals of our business and meeting the future needs of our customers."
Antoine Dominic, Excel Technology CEO, said, "Although the last eight months have been a trying period for Excel's management and its staff, we have maintained our focus as evidenced by achieving record results in 2006. We are quite optimistic about our long term prospects and plan to build on these achievements."
For more information, visit www.Coherent.com.