Spire Acquires Bandwidth Semiconductor

BEDFORD, Mass., May 29 -- Spire Corp. announced this week it has acquired Hudson, N.H.-based Bandwidth Semiconductor LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stratos Lightwave Inc., of Chicago, for an undisclosed amount of cash and the assumption of certain obligations.

Spire makes photovoltaic module manufacturing equipment and provides advanced surface treatments for the biomedical industry. Methode Electronics Inc. of Chicago formed Bandwidth Semiconductor to conduct Spire's optoelectronics business, which it acquired in 1999. In 2000, Methode Electronics spun off Stratos Lightwave in an initial public offering.

Bandwidth, which is currently a supplier to Spire Biomedical, is a semiconductor foundry specializing in III-V materials and devices for defense and telecommunications applications. It makes optoelectronic and other compound semiconductor devices, such as lasers and radiation detectors, on an OEM basis.

Roger G. Little, president and CEO of Spire, said, "We intend to expand Bandwidth's biophotonics activities to support Spire's important life sciences initiative. I am pleased to welcome back to Spire the capable and dedicated Bandwidth staff. I believe that Bandwidth can continue to grow its underlying defense and telecommunications business while providing key optoelectronic device building blocks to allow Spire and other manufacturers to take proprietary positions in the life sciences instrument market."

For more information, visit: www.spirecorp.com