nLIGHT Corp., a private Vancouver manufacturer of high-power semiconductor lasers, today announced it will acquire specialty fiber manufacturer LIEKKI Corp., in Lohja, Finland.
“They have some of the best specialty fiber in the world,” nLIGHT president and CEO Scott Keeney said of LIEKKI. nLIGHT has had a working relationship with the Finnish manufacturer for about two years.
LIEKKI will benefit nLIGHT with its specialized manufacturing facility and a “patented direct nanoparticle deposition fiber technology process,” according to William Willson, managing director of the Fiber Division. nLIGHT expects its work with LIEKKI will give customers a complete supply chain from semiconductor lasers and fibers to optical modules.
Keeney said he does not expect the acquisition to have any dramatic short-term effects on the local workforce. He speculates long-term effects will be seen in local growth of the business.
nLIGHT serves industrial, medical, defense and consumer markets and has facilities in Vancouver, Hillsboro, Ore., and Shanghai, China. It was named Washington’s fastest growing technology company by Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 50 program this year.
LIEKKI Corp. designs, manufactures and markets specialty optical fibers and fiber subassemblies for fiber amplifiers and lasers. Its products are used for industrial, aerospace, medical, military and telecom applications.
The transaction is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2007. Further terms of the acquisition were not released.
