Jan 9 2006
Brush Engineered Materials Inc. announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Williams Advanced Materials Inc., has acquired privately held CERAC, incorporated, a leading domestic provider of physical vapor deposition (PVD) and specialty inorganic materials.
KeyBanc Capital Markets acted as advisor to Brush Engineered Materials for the transaction. The purchase price was approximately $25 million and the Company expects the transaction to be accretive in 2006.
Williams and CERAC share a long history of product innovation and market growth in the optics industry. In recent years, CERAC materials have been supplied to coat the lenses for WAM's Visi-Lid(TM) window assemblies designed for hermetically sealing optoelectronic devices. Bringing CERAC into the Williams organization will enable WAM to support the continued growth of Visi-Lid(TM) products.
CERAC, with 2005 revenues of approximately $20 million, has 120 employees at its facility in Milwaukee. The Company produces PVD and specialty inorganic materials for the precision optics, ophthalmics, semiconductor, security, and laser and display technologies industries.
The purchase of CERAC is the second acquisition for WAM in the past three months and the third within the past year. In October 2005, WAM acquired privately held Thin Film Technology, Inc. (TFT), of Buellton, California, a leading provider of precision optical coatings, photo lithography, thin film hybrid circuits, and specialized thin film coatings and services. TFT has a diverse range of customers serving defense, medical and other growing commercial markets. In May 2005, Williams' Netherlands subsidiary acquired privately held OMC Scientific Holdings Limited (OMCS) of Limerick, Ireland. OMCS primarily provides precision cleaning and reconditioning services for PVD customers serving the magnetic and optical data storage, semiconductor and other technology-based growth markets.
Commenting on the acquisition, Gordon D. Harnett, Chairman and CEO of Brush Engineered Materials, said, "Our improved financial flexibility has allowed us to enhance our growth through quality niche acquisitions over the past year. The purchase of CERAC continues the positive momentum of our Williams business and enables us to further execute our overall strategy of expanding our product breadth and global reach."
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