Gooch & Housego Regulatory News (GHH)

Gooch & Housego PLC

("G&H" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Spanoptic Limited for a net £5.9m in cash

"Extending core capabilities"

Gooch & Housego PLC, the specialist manufacturer of optical components & systems, announces that it has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Spanoptic Limited ("Spanoptic"), a Glenrothes, Scotland, based manufacturer of precision optical components.

Founded in 1976, Spanoptic currently employs 62 people and in the year ended 31 December 2012 had revenues of £7.7 million and made a profit before tax of £1.0 million. Spanoptic had net assets of £5.5 million at acquisition, including net cash of £0.7 million. The gross cash consideration paid by G&H was £6.6 million, funded from existing cash and debt facilities. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first year of ownership.

Spanoptic specialises in spherical and aspheric lenses and diffractive optics for applications in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. This capability is highly complementary to G&H's predominantly planar optics business and enhances the Company's ability to provide complete sub-system solutions to its customers in line with its strategic objectives. Spanoptic's capabilities in infrared optics and coatings are particularly relevant to G&H's activities in the Aerospace & Defence sector.

In recent years Spanoptic has invested heavily in state-of-the-art optical manufacturing, metrology and thin-film coating equipment. These investments have enabled Spanoptic to produce optical components at the upper end of the quality and precision scale while maintaining highly competitive pricing. As a result, Spanoptic has been able to win business and develop strong, mainly European customer relationships across a broad range of applications including analytical instrumentation, optical sensing, security, imaging, life sciences and aerospace & defence. Spanoptic's competitive advantage is further enhanced by the strategic alliance that it has with a far eastern manufacturer of precision optics, opto-mechanics and instrumentation, enabling it to offer a broader range of products and services than would otherwise have been possible. This alliance will continue under G&H ownership.

Spanoptic will continue to operate from its Glenrothes factory as an integrated part of G&H's UK precision optics business led from Ilminster, Somerset. As a long-term supplier to G&H (G&H accounted for approximately 1.5% of Spanoptic's turnover in the year to 31 December 2012), Spanoptic is well-known to the G&H management team and has been the subject of regular quality and process audits in recent years.

G&H will be hosting an investor and analyst Open Day on 16 October 2013 in Ilminster. No new material or financial information will be provided.

Gareth Jones, Chief Executive of Gooch & Housego commented: -

"The acquisition of Spanoptic strengthens Gooch & Housego's core precision optics manufacturing capabilities and provides a sound foundation for developing our sub-systems business. I would like to welcome the Spanoptic team into the G&H family."