PITTSBURGH, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- II-VI Incorporated today announced that it has completed an additional investment in Guangdong Fuxin Electronic Technology Company (Fuxin), based in Guangdong Province, China. II-VI and Fuxin entered into a partnership agreement and II-VI made its initial investment in Fuxin in March 2007. II-VI will remain a minority investor in Fuxin with this investment. Financial terms of the additional investment were not released.
Fuxin, a leader in thermoelectric-based consumer appliances, has begun to work with II-VI's subsidiary, Marlow Industries, Inc., to expand opportunities in thermoelectrics. The additional investment by II-VI will further enable the strategic relationship between the two industry leaders, positioning them to rapidly penetrate the expanding markets within thermoelectric control solutions.
Francis J. Kramer, president and chief executive officer of II-VI Incorporated said, "We are excited about the opportunity to take the relationship between Marlow Industries and Fuxin to the next level. This additional investment represents another step toward achieving our long term strategy of comprehensive market leadership in thermoelectric solutions."
Marlow is the world leader in high quality, high reliability and high performance thermoelectric cooling technology. Marlow develops and manufactures thermoelectric coolers (TECs) and subsystems for the aerospace, defense, medical, commercial, industrial, high-speed integrated circuits, telecommunications, computing and power generation markets. Marlow prides itself on providing standard or custom modules and sub-assemblies that meet customers' exacting needs. Marlow is based in Dallas, Texas, has operations in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and became a subsidiary of II-VI Incorporated in December 2004.
Fuxin is the world leader in high volume, low cost and high quality thermoelectric based consumer appliances. Fuxin develops and manufactures thermoelectric based consumer appliances such as refrigerators, wine coolers and water coolers. Fuxin is the industry high volume leader in TEC based subsystems and modules.
Mr. Liu Fulin, chairman of Fuxin said, "The products provided and markets addressed by Fuxin and Marlow are complementary. The two companies, working together, bring a great benefit to each other and to our customers. Over the past year, Fuxin's relationship with II-VI and Marlow has proven to be successful. II-VI's increased investment in Fuxin represents a confidence in and a commitment to this relationship. We see this as a positive step for the growth of the thermoelectric industry and applications."
Barry Nickerson, general manager of Marlow Industries, Inc. said, "This action further strengthens our position of being the global leader in all thermoelectric markets. It enhances what has already been a very successful business relationship with Fuxin. For example, Marlow's recently introduced line of low cost economy TECs are manufactured by Fuxin."
II-VI Incorporated, a worldwide leader in engineered materials and components, is a vertically-integrated manufacturing company that creates and markets products for a diversified customer base including industrial manufacturing, military and aerospace, high-power electronics and telecommunications, and thermoelectric applications. Headquartered in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, with manufacturing, sales, and distribution facilities worldwide, the Company produces numerous crystalline compounds including zinc selenide for infrared laser optics, silicon carbide for high-power electronic and microwave applications, and bismuth telluride for thermoelectric coolers.
In the Company's infrared optics business, II-VI Infrared manufactures optical and opto-electronic components for industrial laser and thermal imaging systems, and HIGHYAG Lasertechnologie GmbH (HIGHYAG) manufactures fiber-delivered beam transmission systems and processing tools for industrial lasers. In the Company's near-infrared optics business, VLOC manufactures near-infrared and visible light products for industrial, scientific, military and medical instruments and laser gain materials and products for solid-state YAG and YLF lasers. In the Company's military & materials business, Exotic Electro-Optics (EEO) manufactures infrared products for military applications, and Pacific Rare Specialty Metals & Chemicals (PRM) produces and refines selenium and tellurium materials. In the Company's Compound Semiconductor Group, the Wide Bandgap Materials (WBG) group manufactures and markets single crystal silicon carbide substrates for use in the solid-state lighting, wireless infrastructure, RF electronics and power switching industries; the Marlow Industries, Inc. subsidiary designs and manufactures thermoelectric cooling and power generation solutions for use in defense, space, photonics, telecommunications, medical, consumer and industrial markets; and, the Worldwide Materials Group (WMG) provides expertise in materials development, process development, and manufacturing scale up.
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on certain assumptions and contingencies that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and relate to the Company's performance on a going-forward basis. The forward-looking statements in this press release involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results, performance or trends to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements herein or in previous disclosures. The Company believes that all forward-looking statements made by it have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections as expressed in the forward-looking statements will actually occur or prove to be correct. In addition to general industry and economic conditions, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: (i) the failure of any one or more of the assumptions stated above to prove to be correct; (ii) the risks relating to forward-looking statements and other "Risk Factors" discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007; (iii) purchasing patterns from customers and end-users; (iv) timely release of new products, and acceptance of such new products by the market; (v) the introduction of new products by competitors and other competitive responses; and/or (vi) the Company's ability to devise and execute strategies to respond to market conditions.
