The Lasea Group (Angleur, Belgium), which designs and manufactures precision laser machines, has purchased a majority share of Optec (Mons, Belgium and San Diego, CA). Optec specializes in UV and ultrashort-pulse (USP) lasers, with a strong presence in the U.S. and Asia. Thanks to this merger, Lasea has achieved a critical size with more than 110 employees in four countries. The company has more than 1000 systems installed on five continents and several clients who are giants in the luxury goods, medical, and electronics industries and prestigious universities.
Optec, a pioneer in athermal laser micromachining, designs and manufactures laser micromachining systems for the medical and electronics sectors and for safety marking. For over 30 years, the company has specialized in precision machining of polymer materials using excimer lasers (short-pulse UV lasers). It is also a major player in the field of USP lasers. These two athermal processes are capable of micron-size precision, offering very high performances both from a quality and a reliability point of view for the most cutting-edge applications.
Optec has gradually expanded its facilities to 1500 m2 and has a subsidiary in San Diego, CA. With 600 laser systems sold worldwide, Optec also owns a patented ceramic machining technology (MachCeram) that allows single or series parts of impressive quality to be rapidly produced.
Lasea is also a pioneer in USP laser micromachining. With an organic annual growth of 32% since 2012, the company has multiplied its revenue and number of employees by a factor of 7, and it is rapidly increasing its market share in the U.S. and Japan. The company's machines can be used for cutting, marking, engraving, drilling, thin-film ablation, and texturing of materials.
With this merger, the two companies are convinced that respective customers will benefit from the pooling of operations and that new products will continue to meet the demands of rapidly growing markets.
For more information, please visit lasea.eu and optec-laser-systems.com.