May 15, 2012 -- Bühler’s acquisition of Leybold Optics from EQT III was approved without any restrictions by anti-trust authorities. EQT is a group of private equity funds that invests in North and East Europe, Asia, and the United States. The parties have agreed not to disclose the selling price.
Leybold Optics provides vacuum deposition tools for functional layers in a range of applications. It has some 600 employees at its headquarters in Alzenau, Germany, and development and production locations in Germany, the US, and China.
Leybold’s Optics unit serves leading optics, automotive, electronics, and packaging manufacturers, offering sputtering technologies and related vacuum deposition products. Leybold’s Glass & Solar unit supplies coating systems to display, glass, and photovoltaics manufacturers for large-size substrates.
During EQT III's ownership, Leybold pursued an active expansion including the opening of production sites in the US and China as part of its global production strategy, add-on acquisitions as well as the entry into large area coatings such as architectural glass and solar.
Bühler is expanding its Advanced Materials division into the field of equipment for manufacturing of functional layers. Leybold Optics will be integrated as a new business unit in the Advanced Materials division and continue to be headed by the existing management. Bühler’s Advanced Material will roughly double thanks to the inclusion of Leybold.
Leybold’s technology portfolio supplements Bühler’s existing business units Grinding & Dispersion (solutions for preparing printing inks, electronic materials, and fine chemicals) and Nanotechnology (processing of nanoparticles).
The teams will work together to expand customer reach, markets access, and product offerings.
Bühler is a global leader in the field of process engineering, especially production technologies and services for producing foods and advanced materials. Learn more at www.buhlergroup.com or visit www.leyboldoptics.com.
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