- News
22 March 2017
VCSEL firm Princeton Optronics to be acquired by Austria’s ams
ams of Premstaetten, Austria, which designs and manufactures high-performance sensor and analog solutions, has agreed to acquire Princeton Optronics Inc of Mercerville, NJ, USA in an all-cash transaction comprising $53.3m upfront and a cash earn-out related to realized 2017 and 2018 revenues, with a potential maximum earn-out value of $75m.
With a total of 37 staff, Princeton Optronics develops high-power single- and multi-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and VCSEL arrays for mobile, consumer, automotive and industrial applications. The firm operates an outsourced high-volume supply chain with partners in Taiwan, the USA, and the UK. Annual revenue is about $10m and the firm is profitable.
In the mobile and consumer markets, Princeton Optronics says it realizes benchmark power efficiency and accurate control of beam divergence. In automotive and industrial applications, the firm’s technology enables high-temperature operation and delivers high-power pulsed lasers and laser arrays that support future applications. The use of VCSELs is expected to gain momentum in optical sensor solutions for the human-machine interface (HMI). Broader adoption of 3D sensing in mobile applications could accelerate market growth for VCSEL light sources in the coming years.
“Adding the illumination source expands ams’ optical sensor solutions offering, with the light path optics covered by Heptagon and the light sensor including filters by ams,” says ams’ CEO Alexander Everke. “Leveraging this portfolio, ams can now design and manufacture the most complete and differentiated optical solutions for future growth areas like mobile 3D sensing and imaging or automotive autonomous driving,” he adds. “Princeton Optronics is a strategic partner to ams/Heptagon for optical sensing products already, so we see a range of potential future synergies.”
The acquisition is expected to close within six months and is subject to certain approvals and the occurrence of certain conditions defined in the agreements with the sellers.
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