MKS Instruments To Buy Brooks Automation's Granville-Phillips Unit For $87 Mln

(RTTNews) - MKS Instruments Inc. (MKSI), a provider of technologies that enable advanced processes and improve productivity, announced it has agreed to purchase the assets of Granville-Phillips, a division of Brooks Automation Inc. (BRKS), for $87 million in cash.

Granville-Phillips is a global provider of vacuum measurement and control instruments to the semiconductor, thin film and general industrial markets, with sales of approximately $30 million in 2013. Granville-Phillips was founded in 1954, and operated as an independent company until its acquisition by Helix Technology in 1998. It became part of Brooks Automation through the merger of Helix and Brooks in 2005.

"We see the potential for both revenue and cost synergies as we integrate Granville-Phillips into MKS....."Their profitability and cash flow metrics are aligned with our own operating model, and we expect the acquisition to be accretive to our earnings in 2014. Going forward, with the revenue growth potential that we believe we can achieve with this business, as well as operating synergies to be realized over the next few years, we expect this acquisition to meet or exceed our target return thresholds," said Gerald Colella, Chief Executive Officer and President of MKS Instruments.

Steve Schwartz, CEO of Brooks, said, "For many years, Granville-Phillips has been a stable, profitable business in a niche segment of the vacuum instrumentation market, but owning this business is not consistent with our strategy to expand our leadership positions in our core Semiconductor and Life Sciences market segments. We plan to invest the proceeds from this sale into growth opportunities that are consistent with our strategic initiatives."

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.