Private investment group buys Newport's Micro Robotics Systems business
Irvine, CA--Newport (Nasdaq: NEWP) is selling the assets of its Micro Robotics Systems advanced packaging business (MRSI) to a private investment group led by the local management team. In the12 months ended September 28, 2013, MRSI generated revenue of approximately $12 million, although the business did not contribute materially to Newport's operating income or cash flows.
Robert Phillippy, Newport's President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "The MRSI business is focused on the development and manufacturing of turn-key die bonding and dispensing systems. Our focus is on providing solutions that leverage lasers, optics, and photonics technologies, and the MRSI business no longer fits within Newport's long-term strategy. Therefore, we believe it is in our best interest to sell the business."
Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Newport would receive $5.35 million in cash at closing and an unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $0.65 million, with a term of seven years and an interest rate of 5%. The buyer is expected to sublease the facility from Newport and retain substantially all of the employees. The parties are currently negotiating the definitive agreements relating to the transaction, which will be subject to normal closing conditions and is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.
MRSI's net assets at the end of the third quarter of 2013 were approximately $9.5 million and Newport will record a charge of $4.5 million in the third quarter of 2013 relating to the pending divestiture, including transaction costs of $0.4 million.
Conard Holton
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.