Gooch & Housego Buys Sifam

Optical components and systems manufacturer Gooch & Housego plc announced this week it has acquired Sifam Fibre Optics Ltd. for £5 million (about $10 million) in a cash-and-stock deal.

Sifam manufactures passive and active fiber-optic components and integrated modules and systems incorporating fiber optics, sources, detectors and associated electronics for the telecommunications, biomedical, industrial and aerospace and defense industries. The company was founded in 2002 following a management buyout of JDS Uniphase UK Ltd.

Sifam is located in Torquay, England, where it employs 93 in research and development and low-volume manufacturing of specialized products and systems. Higher volume products, such as those for terrestrial telecommunications applications, are outsourced to a manufacturing partner in the Czech Republic, Gooch & Housego said.

For FY 2006, Sifam generated revenues of £3.9 million (approximately $8 million) and its before-tax profit was £.22 million (about $500,000). Sifam's management will remain in place, the company said.

Gooch & Housego Chief Executive Gareth Jones said the acquisition of Sifam, a supplier to fiber laser manufacturers worldwide, will expand its product range and address new applications and markets, such as for industrial and medical lasers. “In Sifam we have not just acquired a capability in this field; we immediately become a world leader in several key aspects of the technology," he said.

Jones said he expects there to be joint development of products between Sifam and Gooch & Housego. "We now have the ability to address a number of exciting new opportunities in the fields of microscopy and diagnostic instrumentation by combining the technologies and resources" of both companies, he said.

Gooch & Housego is based in Ilminster and also has operations in the US and Germany. Other Gooch & Housego companies include: Cleveland Crystals (electro-optics and crystalline materials), Neos Technologies (acousto-optic subsystems and devices), Optronic Laboratories (light measurement and instrumentation) Landwehr Electronics (radio-frequency microelectronics) and Chromodynamics (hyperspectral microscope systems).

For more information, visit: www.goochandhousego.com