Ceradyne, Inc. Acquires VIOX Corporation
January 04 2011 - 7:30AM
Marketwired
Ceradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) announced today that it has acquired
Seattle, Washington based specialty glass company, VIOX Corporation
("VIOX"). The purchase price consists of approximately $27 million
in cash paid at closing which includes a post closing adjustment in
approximately two months, plus contingent payments up to a maximum
of $22 million, based on VIOX achieving certain sales
diversification and earnings targets during the 30-month period
following the closing. For the twelve-month period ended September
30, 2010, VIOX had sales of approximately $22 million with strong
operating margins. Ceradyne anticipates that this acquisition will
be immediately accretive.
VIOX is a 40-year-old corporation that develops, manufactures
and markets specialty glass compositions for a wide range of
electronic, industrial and health care markets. Many of VIOX's
current senior management have earned degrees in ceramic
engineering from the University of Washington. Specialty glass is
often considered a subset of technical ceramics and can be adapted
via its formulation composition to have various desired electrical,
sealing and bioactive properties.
In recent years, VIOX developed a specialty glass formulation
for polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic solar applications. VIOX
customers add electrically conducting powdered metals such as
silver or aluminum to the VIOX powdered specialty glass. When
applied by the solar cell manufacturer in thin bands to the solar
wafer, they act as an extremely efficient conduit to transport the
electrons from the solar wafer to the connection box. This
development has led to rapid recent growth in VIOX sales. Solar
glass products now account for almost 70% of VIOX sales. Many of
the ultimate solar users of VIOX glass are also Ceradyne's
customers for its high purity ceramic solar crucibles.
VIOX also produces bio-active glasses for the healthcare
industry. These compositions have demonstrated an ability to react
with and promote human bone growth. Markets for these materias
include dental, orthopedic surgery, wound care, hearing loss
correction and several other medical uses. The VIOX bio-active
product line is in an early production mode.
VIOX will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceradyne, Inc. and
will be incorporated into the Company's Advanced Ceramic Operations
segment (ACO), headed by Ceradyne Vice President David Reed. It is
Ceradyne's intent to leave all current VIOX personnel in place in
Seattle, including VIOX's current President, Reynold Hagel. It is
also Ceradyne's intent to provide financial, technical and other
Ceradyne resources to facilitate the anticipated growth of
VIOX.
David Reed, Ceradyne Vice President, commented: "I am extremely
enthused over the VIOX acquisition. It will fit into our strategy
of product and market diversification while sticking with
Ceradyne's core technical ceramic technology. It is our intention
to provide the resources to VIOX that will allow them to take
advantage of market opportunities much faster and more efficiently
than the 'pre-acquisition' smaller VIOX could have achieved.
Perhaps as important," Reed continued, "the VIOX people will fit
right into the Ceradyne culture; they are hard working,
entrepreneurial ceramic/glass technologists with a multi-year
profit record."
Reynold Hagel, VIOX President, said: "I know for myself and the
rest of the VIOX management team that it will be a promising and
exciting opportunity to be part of the Ceradyne team and that we
will have the resources available to enable us to further grow the
company. We are confident that our solar glass customers,
bio-active glass customers and other specialty glass customers will
view this Ceradyne/VIOX team in a very favorable light."
Information about Ceradyne, Inc.
Ceradyne develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical
ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, energy,
automotive/diesel and commercial applications.
In many high performance applications, products made of advanced
technical ceramics meet specifications that similar products made
of metals, plastics or traditional ceramics cannot achieve.
Advanced technical ceramics can withstand extremely high
temperatures, combine hardness with light weight, are highly
resistant to corrosion and wear, and often have excellent
electrical capabilities, special electronic properties and low
friction characteristics. Additional information can be found at
the Company's web site: www.ceradyne.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this
press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future
events and the future performance of Ceradyne that involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected. Words such as "anticipates,"
"believes," "plans," "expects," "intends," "future," and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009,
and its quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date thereof.
Ceradyne, Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:CRDN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Ceradyne, Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:CRDN)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024