Rofin-Sinar Laser Buys 80% of m2k-laser GmbH

Laser maker Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH announced yesterday that it has acquired 80 percent of Freiburg, Germany-based m2k-laser GmbH in a cash transaction. Specific terms were not disclosed.

m2k-laser was founded in 2001 as a spinoff of the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Solid-State Physics (Fraunhofer IAF) in Freiburg. It manufactures semiconductor lasers based on the III-V compounds gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium antimonide (GaSb), used primarily by the scientific industry. Its main products are tapered diode lasers and tapered amplifiers.

Rofin-Sinar Laser is an affiliate company of Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. (RSTI) and is based in Michigan and Germany.

The remaining 20 percent of m2k-laser will remain with Fraunhofer Gesellschaft of Munich, Germany, and two former founders. Marc Kelemen, one of the founders, will become managing director for operations.

Under two separate additional agreements, the company will pay for access to certain procedural knowledge and to use the existing infrastructure of the Fraunhofer IAF.

"M2k will continue to operate as a stand-alone company and will also continue to provide their products to other laser companies," said Gunther Braun, CEO and president of RSTI.

For more information, visit: www.rofin.com