Newport Corp., an Irvine, CA-based manufacturer/marketer of robotics and automation systems, on June 1 agreed to buy Spectra-Physics, the optical technology unit of Waltham, MA-based Thermo Electron Corp., for $300 million.
The $134.8 million Newport says that the acquisition will propel its sales to about $400 million. With Thermo Electron, Newport will have more than 2,000 employees and 15 manufacturing plants in five countries.
Newport chairman/CEO Robert Deuster said in a statement that the two businesses have some of the same customers but minimal product overlap. With Thermo Electron, the Newport catalog will increase from 10,000 SKUs to about 15,000.