Laser developer to see changes after being sold
By Nicholas Smith, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, July 03, 2009
Changes are in store for Tucson laser manufacturer Spectra-Physics as a result of being sold last month.
“We intend to continue to develop products for that market and use Tucson as both for a product design and experiment center for this kind of technologies as well as the business center for North American activates,” said Yves LeMaitre, vice president of advanced photonic solutions for Oclaro, which is based in San Jose, Calif., and acquired Spectra-Physics from Newport Corp., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.
Oclaro plans to consolidate the Tucson operations, 3321 E. Global Loop, with its facilities in Zurich, Switzerland, and Caswell, England. The process is expected to take a year, but the company plans to remain here, albeit with some changes.
“This is not going to be a blood bath in Tucson, but will there be some consolidation in Tucson? Definitely,” Le Maitre said. Spectra-Physics has about 90 employees in Tucson.
In exchange for Spectra-Physics, Newport is acquiring a portion of Oclaro’s advanced photonics solutions division. As part of the deal Oclaro will receive $3 million cash from Newport and has agreed to use the Tucson office as the sole supplier of diodes for at least four years.
“From a strategic perspective, we are acquiring a portfolio of high-value photonics products and systems that serve our core markets, while exiting a diode laser business that is less aligned with the focus and profit model of our laser division,” said Newport President and CEO Robert Phillippy in a press release.
Newport acquired Spectra-Physics four years ago.
Diodes are used in the production of high-powered precision lasers, which are used in everything from surgery, in the printing industry and materials processing.
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