Cathay Capital Private Equity (‘Cathay Capital’), along with Mérieux Equity Partners, Bpifrance, and Auriga Partners, have announced that they have entered into exclusive negotiations for the sale of their stake in Amplitude Laser Group, a leading global manufacturer of ultrafast lasers for scientific, medical and industrial applications, to the Luxembourg-based investment company L-GAM.
The official signing of the final documentation will occur after the consultation of the employees' representatives of Amplitude Laser Group, and the sale will be subject to clearance from the German antitrust authority.
Amplitude Laser Group is today the only international specialist to cover all ultrafast laser technologies and their applications. Amplitude Laser Group provides an expertise that is uniquely global, innovative and reliable, thanks to its close to 350 employees over 3 continents and a diversity of scientific, medical and industrial clients in over 40 countries.
Since Cathay Capital, Bpifrance, Mérieux Equity Partners and Auriga Partnersjoined in 2012 as majority investors along with the management, Amplitude Laser Group has transformed itself into a global leader with a truly international footprint. With the backing of its shareholders, Amplitude Laser Group successfully expanded abroad through the opening of subsidiaries in Japan, Korea, and more recently in China, as well as in the United States with the acquisition of Continuum Lasers in 2014.
During this period, Amplitude Laser Group also deeply diversified its end markets by pioneering the use of ultrafast lasers in high growth industries such as semiconductor, advanced micromachining and particularly display where it managed to establish a significant partnership with major manufacturers.
The undisputed scientific and technical skills of the group also allowed it to be involved in most of the major laser research infrastructure projects, such as the Extreme Light Infrastructure in Europe, initiated by Gérard Mourou, 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. All these efforts contributed to the strong growth of Amplitude Laser Group, with revenues more than tripling over the period to reach more than 70 million euros by March 2019.
Eric Mottay, CEO of Amplitude Laser Group, said: ‘With the support of our partners, and the commitment of the team, Amplitude has grown from a laser specialist to a global leader in the field of ultrafast lasers and applications. Our expansion in the US and South Korea, our partnerships with major display and semiconductor manufacturers, as well as the rapid expansion of our China operations leave us in a very strong position for the future. We are excited about upcoming partnership with L-GAM to enter a new development phase for the company
Fabien Wesse, Partner at Cathay Capital, declared: ‘Over the last 7 years, we have supported Amplitude’s development by facilitating its expansion over three continents through organic growth, diversification and build ups. With our support, the Amplitude team has managed to develop the company tremendously, and it is now ready for a new phase of growth with L-GAM as new shareholder.’
