“We get investment support from Halma to finance innovative new products and new distribution channels.”

Gerhard Glufke, Managing Director of Rudolph Riester GmbH

Rudolph Riester GmbH, a German manufacturer of small diagnostic medical devices, joined Halma in December 2007. Its ophthalmic, blood pressure and ENT instruments complement Halma’s existing Health Optics businesses.

At the time of acquisition, Riester’s major growth targets were the US and UK. In these geographies alliances with Halma subsidiaries Volk Optical Inc and Keeler Ltd have provided new opportunities for market expansion.

Riester has benefitted from recruitment of additional senior personnel, including the new board appointment of Sales Director, and an internal promotion to the position of Operations Director following completion of the Halma Executive Development Programme.

With guidance from Halma’s Lean Production consultant (a central resource for all subsidiaries), Riester made dramatic improvements in workflow and delivery times. Its two factories which, prior to Lean, Riester felt were both at capacity, were condensed into a single facility with streamlined work cells. Delivery times of 4 to 5 weeks were cut to 2 weeks, increasing production output by 40% in one manufacturing cell.

According to Managing Director Gerhard Glufke, as part of Halma, Riester will “continue our current growth regarding sales, and we’ll be able to invest in our operations, in new products and in the improvement of our market positions.”

Read the Riester deal announcement.

“Halma wanted to provide new opportunities and help the company grow.”

Ted Rich, founder of Fiberguide Industries Inc

Halma acquired Fiberguide Industries Inc. in September 2008. Located in New Jersey, USA, Fiberguide designs and manufactures complex optical cables and assemblies, mainly custom-designed for OEMs.

From Halma’s viewpoint, the acquisition of Fiberguide met its strategic goal to extend its presence in the fast-growing Photonics market sector and strengthen its existing fibre optic assembly activities.

Ted Rich, Fiberguide’s founder and chief technical officer, was seeking a partner to help his company grow. He was interested in the potential collaboration opportunities with companies that Halma already owned. Ted sought access to new sales channels to open up new markets for Fiberguide worldwide.

During the negotiations Ted was impressed by Halma’s openness. Halma gave him a list of recently acquired companies to contact. He was able to find out, firsthand, how Halma managed its acquired businesses.

He discovered that Halma was interested in businesses that could extend its existing activities, fit in with its entrepreneurial culture and deliver strong financial performance. Ted found that Halma’s post-acquisition strategy was to add value to its acquired businesses, invest in them and help them develop over the long term.

Since acquisition, Fiberguide has developed new products collaboratively with other Halma companies, and benefitted from strengthened management, significant capital investment in production equipment, improvements to manufacturing process efficiency and growing international sales.

Fiberguide has used the resources of Halma’s Chinese business hubs to grow sales quickly in Asia. Access to overseas markets was a key factor behind Ted’s decision to sell to Halma. At the time of acquisition, exports were less than five per cent of Fiberguide’s revenue; today, exports have risen to 23% of turnover.

Read the Fiberguide deal announcement.

“The merger has made us a world leader in light reflectance technology.”

Rob Claflin, president of SphereOptics

SphereOptics, a maker of custom light measurement technologies, was acquired by Halma in January 2010. It joined Halma’s global group of photonics businesses in a merger with light metrology industry leader Labsphere.

The acquisition process closed in three months. Commenting on the process, Rob Claflin, President of SphereOptics, said: “I’ve been involved in a number of M&A activities and this was one of the smoothest, quickest, and most enjoyable. The way the deal was structured financially, all of our incentives were aligned. We all get rewarded for the same achievements, which was really the clinching factor as far as I was concerned.”

While SphereOptics and Labsphere products are very closely related, each business specialised in different market niches, resulting in a stronger overall combined entity. Halma provided ready access to capital, a commitment to people development and global distribution channels. Halma’s extensive investment in Asia brought much stronger sales outlets for SphereOptics’ products in Korea, China and Taiwan and new opportunities for manufacture in China.

Labsphere had experienced strong growth independent of the acquisition and planned to add 10-12 staff positions during the current financial year. SphereOptics personnel, many Labsphere veterans, filled almost every professional spot Labsphere had been looking to fill. Twenty-three Labsphere and SphereOptics managers have benefitted from Halma management development programmes designed to enhance the skills of the next generation of senior managers, board directors and divisional chief executives.

Read the SphereOptics deal announcement.

“Capital investment from Halma will underpin strong growth.”

Rich Caluori, former President of Oerlikon

Oerlikon Optics, a designer and manufacturer of optical coatings and opto-mechanical assemblies, joined Halma in November 2008. Based in Colorado, USA, Oerlikon was integrated into Ocean Thin Films Inc, a Halma subsidiary in Florida, USA, created from the thin films technology division of Ocean Optics Inc.

Halma recognised that Oerlikon’s expertise and manufacturing capacity made it a complementary fit with Ocean Thin Films. Ocean Thin Films has been able to call on Oerlikon’s greater engineering power for certain projects, and the two businesses have shared manufacturing process knowledge.

Rich Caluori, Vice President of Ocean Thin Films Inc and former president of Oerlikon, welcomed his customers’ reaction to the merger: “They said: ‘You are stronger and, for us, you will simply be a better qualified supplier than in the past.’”

Halma has recently made significant capital investments in Ocean Thin Films’ facility in Golden. With the addition of advanced coating equipment, the site can now produce high volumes of patented optical components. The combined business has set up a sales operation within Halma’s Mumbai business hub and is anticipating strong sales growth in India.

Read the Oerlikon deal announcement.

"Halma’s focus on the acquisition process proved crucial to making it quick and efficient."

David Lashbrook, President of Alicat

Located in Tucson, Arizona, Alicat manufactures digital flow and pressure control instrumentation. The company was acquired by Halma in November 2010.

Alicat’s majority shareholders tasked the senior management with finding new owners that would ensure the continuity of the business. Initial discussions with several larger companies in the flow control industry led to concerns that Alicat’s innovative, entrepreneurial culture could be adversely affected. There were no such concerns once they had talked to Halma.

The acquisition process took less than 3 months from initial meeting to completion and there was no disruption at Alicat. Production and customer service were unaffected and there was no turnover of personnel.

Since its transition to Halma, Alicat has developed a much more structured approach to sales. The company has defined its markets and set goals concerning their penetration. Customer visits, trade show attendance, and other sales and marketing activities have greatly increased. This has resulted in a significant growth in sales in the year following acquisition.

David Lashbrook, President, says "It is motivating to be a part of Halma. All of the people I’ve met have attained their positions through obvious merit. In the past, Alicat was proud of doing everything by itself. Now, we integrate fresh ideas from the outside to our substantial benefit."

"Halma helps businesses to reach superior results. Through Halma, we’ve gained access to talent at all levels. We’ve received guidance on supply chain management, recommendations on HR management, and I get valuable advice from fellow Managing Directors within the Fluid Technology Division."

Read the Alicat deal announcement.