Ceradyne, Inc. has announced that it has acquired Seattle, Washington-based speciality glass company, VIOX Corporation. The purchase price consists of approximately USD 27 million in cash paid at clos…
Ceradyne, Inc. has announced that it has acquired Seattle, Washington-based speciality glass company, VIOX Corporation. The purchase price consists of approximately USD 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 USD 22 million, based on VIOX achieving certain sales diversification and earnings targets during the 30-month period following the closing. For the 12-month period ended 30 September 2010, VIOX had sales of approximately USD 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 speciality 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. Speciality 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. More recently, VIOX developed a speciality glass formulation for polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic solar applications. VIOX customers add electrically conducting powdered metals such as silver or aluminium to the VIOX powdered speciality 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 materials include dental, orthopaedic 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.