Gooch & Housego Buys Cleveland Crystals

Somerset, England-based Gooch & Housego PLC has acquired Cleveland Crystals Inc. (Cleveland, OH), manufacturer of electro-optical devices and nonlinear crystals in a cash transaction for an undisclosed amount. Cleveland Crystals will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary under the leadership of current president Eugene Arthurs; its name will remain unchanged.

The acquisition is a good fit for the two companies, since Gooch & Housego develops products incorporating nonlinear crystals, including Q-switches and modulators. "They've become leaders in crystal-based Q-switches, and we're the leaders in electro-optic-based Q-switches," says Arthurs. "There's something of a match there." Although Gooch & Housego's US marketing is currently handled by its other domestic property, Optronics Laboratories (Orlando, FL), Arthurs expects that Cleveland Crystals will begin to take a significant role in this part of the process. "I would hope to be involved in marketing and distribution since we're a better match than the other company."

Cleveland Crystals was founded about 25 years ago by a group of engineer from the research and development arm of a company named Clevite. When Gould acquired Clevite, the company did not want to maintain the R&D lab, so the associated engineers struck out on their own to form Cleveland Crystals. Recently, outside shareholders of the privately-held company required liquidity, prompting Cleveland to sell to Gooch & Housego.