Exfo Closing Upstate NY Plant

QUEBEC CITY, Sept. 24 -- Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering Inc., a Quebec City maker of testing and manufacturing equipment for the telecommunications and life sciences industries, announced it is consolidating its life sciences/photonics division by transferring Exfo Burleigh Products Group Inc., in Victor, N.Y., to its Toronto facility. The move will result in a loss of 25 jobs at the upstate New York plant.

The company said Thursday it expects to incur $2.7 million in restructuring and other charges as a result of the consolidation, which is expected to streamline operations and result in $1.5 million in annual savings.

The Victor, N.Y., operation was acquired in November 2000 when Exfo bought privately held Burleigh Instruments Inc. for $40 million in cash and Exfo shares then valued at $235 million (See Photonics.com, "Burleigh Acquired by Exfo for $275 Million").

Pierre Plamondon, Exfo's vice president of finance and CFO, said of the announcement, "It is a move that will tighten the market focus of our Photonics and Life Sciences Division and improve the company's long-term operating model. Given that $1.3 million of the total restructuring plan is mainly related to asset impairment, our annual savings should enable us to offset our cash expenses within a year."

Exfo said its telecommunications division, based in Quebec City with a site in Montreal, accounts for about 80 percent of its business.

For more information, visit: www.exfo.com