On Feb. 17, Laser Power Corp. (LPC; San Diego, CA) reported the sale of its contract research operation, which developed projection-display and 1550-nm microlaser technologies, to Photera Technologies Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of Schwartz Electro-Optics Inc. (SEO; Orlando, FL). LPC also announced receipt of the remaining initial cash payment for the sale of its microlaser unit to Melles Griot (Carlsbad, CA) last December.
"With the sale of the contract research operation, the restructuring we announced last quarter is complete," said LPC CEO Dick Sharman. "We are now a profitable optics company with a strong balance sheet and a focus on our core competencies of optical design and fabrication and state-of-the-art thin-film coatings. By focusing on what we know and do best, we believe that we are better positioned to achieve our primary objective of increasing shareholder value."
Graham Flint, former chief technical officer of LPC, now serves as the president and CEO of Photera in the same facilities that were the research division of LPC. Flint intends to focus the 1550-nm laser technology acquired from LPC on telecom applications.—Hassaun Jones-Bey