Dynasil to Triple Under Deal

Photonics company Dynasil Corp. of America announced today that its size could triple with the planned acquisition of a private advanced instrumentation company. Dynasil did not disclose the company's name or the terms of the transaction.

Dynasil's chairman, James Saltzman, said the acquisition would increase by more than three times the size of the $11 million business, which manufactures optical materials, components, coatings and specialized subsystems. It has a total of 80 employees at its business units in West Berlin, N.J., Ayer, Mass., and Ithaca, N.Y., that serve markets including display systems, optical instruments, satellite communications and lighting.

The company to be acquired has developed and manufactured instruments for the medical, environmental sensing and quality assurance markets, Dynasil said. It also has a significant research and development team performing a number of government contracts for the Department of Homeland Security and other major federal agencies.

"The acquisition would be transformational for Dynasil in that it would move us from a predominantly component-based supply company to an instrumentation company with a considerable IP portfolio, extensive technology capability and significantly increased cash flow, said Dynasil CEO and President Craig T. Dunham. "It represents the addition of significant, new capability sets to Dynasil and greatly expands our portfolio of medical and general instrumentation.

"With its advanced research capabilities, we expect that this R&D facility will enable us to obtain both Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and non-SBIR government funding to offset some of the cost of developing new, high technology products," Dunham said.

Dynasil said the transaction, which it expects will close in the spring of 2008, is contingent on negotiating definitive agreements and obtaining the necessary financing, among other conditions. The agreement also requires the instrumentation company's principals to stay in place and assist with the transition to Dynasil ownership.

Over the last three years, Dynasil has acquired two other companies: Optical components manufacturer Optometrics in 2005 and optical thin-film coatings maker Evaporated Metal Films (EMF) in 2006 (See: Dynasil to Acquire EMF Corp.).

For more information, visit: www.dynasil.com