Lasers & Sources

Fiber laser maker V-Gen will be acquired by Newport

July 24, 2014

Newport says it has entered into an agreement to acquire V-Gen (Tel Aviv, Israel), a developer and manufacturer of fiber lasers. V-gen was founded in 1998 as a supplier of pulsed fiber lasers, and has about 50 employees.

Conard Holton

Newport (NASDAQ: NEWP) says it has entered into an agreement to acquire V-Gen (Tel Aviv, Israel), a developer and manufacturer of fiber lasers. V-gen was founded in 1998 as a supplier of pulsed fiber lasers, and has about 50 employees. It won the 2014 PRISM Award winner for its VPFL-ISP-1-40-HE-50000 ytterbium fiber laser with the shortest pulsewidth.

Eran Inbar, founder and CEO of V-Gen said of the acquisition, “We are excited to become part of Newport’s Spectra-Physics Lasers Group. Their worldwide sales and service network and complementary technologies will enable us to expand our business beyond what we could have achieved as a stand-alone company."

David Allen, Sr. VP and GM of Newport’s Spectra-Physics Lasers Group, said, “V-Gen has a strong track record of growth and profitability and we expect the acquisition to be accretive to our earnings immediately following the closing." V-Gen is expected to have sales in the range of $15 to $20 million in the first 12 months after the transaction closes. Terms of the transaction, which is anticipated to close during the third quarter, were not disclosed.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.