StockerYale Sells to Coherent

Laser, optical fiber and LED maker StockerYale Inc. of Salem, N.H., announced today that it has sold its North American operations to Santa Clara, Calif.-based laser company Coherent Inc. for $15 million in cash and the assumption of some of its operating liabilities.

The company said it sold its Montreal, Canada-based laser module business and its specialty optical fiber division in Salem. The company will continue to operate StockerYale Ireland, which makes LED systems based on its proprietary chip-on-board technology, and UK-based Photonic Products Ltd. (PPL), which distributes laser diodes and makes custom laser modules. StockerYale Ireland and PPL accounted for about 47 percent of StockerYale's revenue in 2008.

StockerYale Chairman and CEO Mark W. Blodgett said the sale allows the company to significantly reduce debt and focus on growing its LED systems and PPL businesses.

"With increased focus, we are confident that we can improve both growth and profitability of these two businesses," he said. Under the deal, StockerYale was able to retire its senior debt of $3.6 million, as well as its line of credit for $3.5 million.

StockerYale, which makes structured light lasers, LED modules and speciality optical fibers for industrial OEMs, medical and defense markets, has struggled with operating losses and sliding stock prices for years, and its shaky financial condition was one reason Ontario-based Virtek Vision, a maker of laser engraving, templating and inspection products, strongly and successfully resisted StockerYale's efforts to buy the company in 2008 (See StockerYale Loses Virtek Bid).

For its part, Coherent said the acquisition will boost its fiber technology and allow it to expand into new markets.

"In acquiring these two product lines, we gain access to the machine vision market and expand our bioinstrumentation opportunities through the laser diode module business. We also add core fiber technology, which will improve our time to market and enhance both the performance and reliability of our fiber-based product platforms," stated Coherent President and CEO John Ambroseo.

For more information, visit: www.stockeryale.com or www.coherent.com