Materion Acquires EIS Optics

Advanced materials company Materion Corp. announced today that it has acquired China-based optical thin-film filter maker EIS Optics Ltd. for $24 million in cash. Materion said the deal gives it a manufacturing base from which to better serve its rapidly growing Asian optical coatings businesses.

Materion made the acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary, Materion Advanced Materials Technologies and Services Inc. Costs related to the transaction will negatively affect 2011 earnings by approximately 3 cents per share in the third quarter and up to about 10 cents per share in the fourth quarter, the company said.

EIS Optics operates a 97,000-sq-ft plant in Shanghai and employs 350. The company makes glass processing, lithography and optical subassemblies that allow for the precision management of light in a range of end-use applications throughout the projection display, entertainment lighting, sensors, medical instruments and gaming industries. EIS Optics also is the world's largest manufacturer of color wheels for color splitting in field sequential lighting management in digital production, video production and video imaging, Materion said.

Materion said the company also complements its existing position in thin-film optical filters that serve the defense, aerospace, medical, energy, semiconductor, telecommunications, lighting and astronomy markets.

In recent years, Materion has made a number of strategic acquisitions in the thin-film optical filters and coatings arena, including Barr Associates Inc. of Westford, Mass., and Thin Film Technology Inc. of Buellton, Calif., both producers of precision optical coatings, thin-film hybrid circuits and highly engineered thin-film coatings and services; and Techni-Met LLC of Windsor, Conn., a maker of large-area precision thin films primarily for high-end medical applications.

For more information, visit: http://materion.com