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Excelitas to Relocate Headquarters to Pennsylvania

BioPhotonics
Mar/Apr 2024
Global photonics company Excelitas Technologies will relocate its operations to Pittsburgh, moving from its current headquarters in Waltham, Mass., outside of Boston. The company plans to complete the move this summer.

Excelitas, a 2010 spinout from Perkin Elmer, develops and manufactures optics, photonics, and imaging equipment, including cameras, sensors and detectors, sources, precision timekeeping instruments, lasers, space optics, and assemblies. Following the close of its acquisition of Heraeus Noblelight, completed concurrent with news of its pending relocation, Excelitas now has more than 8300 employees. It operates 33 locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. Per the move, Excelitas will additionally create at least 250 jobs over the next four years upon its move into the ~50,000-sq-ft Pittsburgh space.

Dan Brailer, vice president of communications and investor relations at Excelitas, said that the company’s lease on its Waltham headquarters was set to expire this year. The expiring lease, along with space limitations hindering future growth, led the company to undertake a site selection process.

“It came back that Pennsylvania was quite attractive,” Brailer said. “There was a big push from the state, and they offered a $2.3 million grant to establish the headquarters in Pennsylvania.”

Excelitas’ $2.3 million funding proposal from Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development matches the amount that the company said it plans to invest in the Pittsburgh complex. The grant, Brailer said, alleviates rent, move-in, and other related costs, allowing the company to use those savings to invest in growth initiatives and R&D.

In addition to financial incentives, Brailer pointed to the proximity to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the company's executive team’s preexisting roots in Pennsylvania, as drivers for the move.

“We’re seeing an influx of a lot of technology companies in that part of Pittsburgh, so we really felt that for the various lifestyle amenities, and the very attractive cost of living, and a solid source for talent — as Excelitas grows — we felt that all of those factors really pointed to a decision rationale that made sense for us,” Brailer said.

Anticipated growth

According to Brailer, the move is in line with the company’s future aim to become a publicly traded entity, though not driven by it, he said. The company doesn’t yet have a timetable, but according to Brailer, the company has begun the groundwork to pursue an initial public offering (IPO).

As a private company, Excelitas has completed numerous acquisitions, including Heraeus Noblelight, Phoseon Technologies, PCO AG, and more. The acquisitions have bolstered the company’s presence in core optics and photonics markets, as well as machine vision, biomedical, and optronics.

Excelitas, which named Ron Keating CEO in October 2023, said that the roughly 30 employees at the Waltham headquarters will transition to the company’s nearby site in Billerica, Mass.More news & features