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Press Release Detail: Thorlabs Purchases Melles Griot Ltd. UK Manufacturing Facility Newton, NJ and Carlsbad, CA - Thorlabs and Melles Griot have jointly announced the purchase of Melles Griot Ltd, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, a division of the Melles Griot Corporation, Carlsbad CA, by Thorlabs, Inc. The facility manufactures nano-positioning systems for high precision alignment applications, along with optical tables and full vibration isolation systems. Chief Executive Officers of both organizations offered their views on the strategy surrounding the decision. According to Blake Fennell, CEO for Melles Griot, “We strive to be a leaner, more focused organization. More than 80% of our revenue is now OEM based, equally split between Lasers and Optics. This is where our investment in infrastructure and IP will most benefit our customers and other stakeholders. We also continue to invest in logistics and channel development for our Catalog business.” Alex Cable, President and founder of Thorlabs, Inc. said of the new acquisition “The high quality Melles Griot Ltd. products add another dimension to the Thorlabs product offerings, and the new engineering and manufacturing base in the United Kingdom will significantly enhance the service provided to our customers in the UK. We are quickly reaching critical mass in terms of a complete source of photonics tools and technologies”. Thorlabs will continue manufacturing operations at the UK site, which was a critical factor in the deal. Both Thorlabs and Melles Griot are committed to ensuring that both their customers and their employees are positively impacted by the strategic move. Melles Griot is a leading supplier of photonics products including lasers, optics, opto-mechanical hardware, instrumentation and machine vision systems. By providing quality products and exemplary service, Melles Griot, a Barloworld Scientific company, has become one of the world’s largest suppliers of photonics components and subsystems, with manufacturing and distribution facilities in 41 countries. Thorlabs, Inc. is a broad based optical technologies company. Its product portfolio covers an extensive array of products ranging from simple optical and mechanical components, to integrated test and measurement systems. Thorlabs catalog products are produced in manufacturing centers in the USA, Germany, Japan, and Sweden and now the UK. As photonic devices push into new markets, Thorlabs’ plan is to enter early with support equipment and services that are required to ensure the ultimate success of our customers.