Novanta Acquires Remaining Equity Interest in Laser Quantum

• Novanta acquires the remaining 24 percent of the outstanding shares of Laser Quantum for approximately $45.7 million

BEDFORD, Mass., Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Novanta Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVT) (the "Company", "we", "our", "Novanta"), a trusted technology partner to medical and advanced technology equipment manufacturers, announced today that it has acquired the remaining approximately 24 percent of the outstanding shares of Laser Quantum for an aggregate consideration of $45.7 million in cash and restricted stock.    

Laser Quantum, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, is the leading supplier to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of solid state continuous wave lasers, femtosecond lasers, and optical light engines for the medical market. 

As a result of increasing Novanta's equity stake in Laser Quantum to 76% in January 2017, Laser Quantum has been consolidated in Novanta's consolidated financial statements. The acquisition of the remaining 24 percent minority interests will be accounted for as a transaction among shareholders. Accordingly, this transaction is not expected to give rise to gain or loss in the consolidated statement of operations.  

The total purchase price was financed with cash on hand and borrowings under the Company's amended and restated credit facility, and the issuance of $15.0 million in restricted stock. The restricted stock will become fully vested upon achievement of certain milestones included in the restricted stock agreement. Restricted stock not otherwise vested as of December 31, 2025 will be subject to forfeiture. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Novanta's non-GAAP earnings per share. 

"Novanta and Laser Quantum share a common emphasis on providing mission critical technologies to OEMs with medical and life science applications," said Lawrie Gloster, Managing Director of Laser Quantum. "We are excited to be with Novanta and are looking forward to continuing our work together. Joining Novanta in 2017 accelerated our business growth and expanded our ability to serve customers. The completion of this final step in the transaction deepens these collaborations and enables us to further strengthen our business."

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements contained in this news release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, and are generally identified by words such as "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "future," "could," "should," "plan," "aim," and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected impact on our financial results of acquiring the remaining shares of Laser Quantum; expectations regarding future tenure of employees at Laser Quantum; and other statements that are not historical facts.

These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, but not limited to, the following: economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on our customers' businesses and level of business activity; our significant dependence upon our customers' capital expenditures, which are subject to cyclical market fluctuations; our dependence upon our ability to respond to fluctuations in product demand; our ability to continually innovate and successfully commercialize our innovations; failure to introduce new products in a timely manner; customer order timing and other similar factors beyond our control; disruptions or breaches in security of our information technology systems; changes in interest rates, credit ratings or foreign currency exchange rates; risks associated with our operations in foreign countries; risks associated with increased outsourcing of components manufacturing; our failure to comply with local import and export regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate; negative effects on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business as a result of the United Kingdom's impending withdrawal from the European Union and the actions of the current U.S. government, including its policies on trade tariffs and reactions from other countries to any new tariffs imposed by the U.S.; violations of our intellectual property rights and our ability to protect our intellectual property against infringement by third parties; risk of losing our competitive advantage; our failure to successfully integrate recent and future acquisitions into our businesses; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; our restructuring and realignment activities and disruptions to our operations as a result of consolidation of our operations; product defects or problems integrating our products with other vendors' products; disruptions in the supply of certain key components or other goods from our suppliers; production difficulties and product delivery delays or disruptions; our exposure to medical device regulation, which may impede or hinder the approval or sale of our products and, in some cases, may ultimately result in an inability to obtain approval of certain products or may result in the recall or seizure of previously approved products; changes in governmental regulation of our businesses or products; our failure to comply with environmental regulations; our failure to implement new information technology systems and software successfully; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets; our exposure to the credit risk of some of our customers and in weakened markets; our reliance on third party distribution channels; being subject to U.S. federal income taxation even though we are a non-U.S. corporation; tax audits by tax authorities; changes in tax laws, and fluctuations in our effective tax rates; anticipated impact from the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; any need for additional capital to adequately respond to business challenges or opportunities and repay or refinance our existing indebtedness, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; our existing indebtedness limiting our ability to engage in certain activities; volatility in the market price for our common shares; our ability to access cash and other assets of our subsidiaries; provisions of our articles of incorporation that may delay or prevent a change in control; and our failure to maintain appropriate internal controls in the future.

Other important risk factors that could affect the outcome of the events set forth in these statements and that could affect the Company's operating results and financial condition are discussed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and in our future filings with the SEC. Such statements are based on the Company's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to the Company. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document except as required by law.

About Novanta

Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision, and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers' demanding applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation and customer success. Novanta's common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "NOVT."

More information about Novanta is available on the Company's website at www.novanta.com.  For additional information, please contact Novanta Investor Relations at (781) 266-5137 or [email protected].

Novanta Inc.  
Investor Relations Contact:
Robert J. Buckley
(781) 266-5137

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SOURCE Novanta Inc.

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