Amersham, UK, June 4, 2004--Halma, a leading safety and environmental technology group, areed to purchase Ocean Optics (Dunedin, FL), a supplier of optical sensing and electro-optics systems. The purchase price includes an initial cash consideration of $25.0 million (£13.6 million), to be funded from Halma's existing cash resources.

The initial consideration assumes net assets at completion of $6.1 million (£3.3 million); any adjustment to net assets at completion will result in a dollar for dollar adjustment. Additional payments of up to $25.0 million (£13.6 million) are conditional upon profits growth of this business of over 100% between April 2004 and March 2006. Halma has received irrevocable undertakings from shareholders representing the majority of the issued share capital of Ocean Optics, and completion is subject to a shareholders' meeting being held on 8 June 2004. Audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2003 show that Ocean Optics generated profit before tax of $4.6 million (£2.5 million) on sales of $25.2 million (£13.7 million)

Ocean Optics is a supplier of optical sensing systems that determine the color, brightness and chemical properties of a sample by measuring its interaction with light. The company is the world market leader for miniature fibre optic spectrometers serving a wide range of markets including consumer electronics, process control, environmental monitoring, life sciences and medical diagnostics.

As part of Halma's Optics and Specialist Technology Sector, Ocean Optics will have the opportunity to access a number of new markets, creating important organic growth opportunities for the Halma Group.