May 26, 2006, Westford, MA--Barr Associates has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Optical Coating Corporation (OCC) based in Natick, MA. The acquisition is meant to solidify Barr's position as the largest independent manufacturer of precision thin film coatings and filters. In particular, it increases Barr's capabilities and coating capacity to better address the growing demand for products in the infrared wavelength region.
OCC was founded in 2002 by Dan Jasinski and 11 other former employees of Optical Filter Corporation (OFC). Since its founding in 1978, OFC has been a leader in the optical filter industry servicing the defense, aerospace and commercial industries. In 2000, OFC (then called NetOptix) was acquired by Corning. The subsequent shut down of the thin film coating facility, resulting from the softening of the telecommunications market, served as the catalyst for the formation of OCC. Since its founding, OCC has targeted and made inroads in servicing customers with infrared applications.
"This acquisition supports Barr's plans to grow our business. It adds not only capacity but also an experienced and skilled staff that can contribute beyond just OCC's activities," says Ali Smajkiewicz, President of Barr. With the acquisition, Barr will have over 70 active coating deposition systems and a total of 275 associates. OCC's operations will be moved from Natick to Westford and Tyngsboro (MA), where Barr's U.S. facilities are located and substantially all of OCC's employees will join Barr. According to Mike Tatarek, Product Line Manager for Barr's Infrared Product Line, "Barr is experiencing an increase in demand for its high quality infrared filters across all markets. This acquisition provides valuable resources that will help us further expand our capabilities in order to support our customers' growing needs."
For more information, see www.barrassociates.com.
