Gooch & Housego acquires precision optics business
Specialist manufacturer Gooch & Housego has acquired precision optics business Phoenix Optical in a deal worth up to £6.75m.
The deal extends Gooch & Housego’s capabilities in its aerospace and defence markets and creates new opportunities for the cross-selling of the combined capabilities.
Phoenix, based in St Asaph in north Wales, supplies polished, coated and assembled precision optics to customers around the world. It generated earnings of £0.4m, as measured by EDITDA, on revenue of £6.6m in the year to June.
Charlie Peppiatt, chief executive of AIM-listed Gooch & Housego, said the acquisition would “accelerate our journey towards sustainable margin growth”.
He added: “Phoenix is a highly capable, well-regarded UK precision optics supplier with a strong portfolio of products and services. Together we will be able to better serve our customers’ most complex optical systems requirements.”
The acquisition is a sign of the improving confidence at the Ilminster-based group, which had issued two profits warnings earlier this year. However a much more positive update to shareholders at the start of October said the manufacturer had “recovered well” after a difficult start to the year.
Gooch & Housego already has its Optical Systems Innovation Centre in St Asaph and expects to be “achieving synergies from sharing our combined manufacturing capacity and optical systems engineering expertise”.
The deal will see £3.4m paid now with up to £3.35m due over the next three years based on performance.
