12 April 2011

Light measurement firm Pro-Lite takes majority stake in Germany's SphereOptics

Photonics and light measurement equipment distributor Pro-Lite Technology Ltd of Cranfield, UK has acquired a majority stake in SphereOptics GmbH of Uhldingen, Germany, helping to grow its light measurement business in the German, German-speaking and Eastern European markets.

Formed in 2002, Pro-Lite is a supplier of specialist equipment and services with a technical focus on: instruments for measuring light and the optical properties of materials; lasers and related equipment; opto-mechanics and positioning equipment; and optics & optical materials. Pro-Lite distributes light measurement products made by Labsphere, Radiant Imaging, Ocean Optics and Konica Minolta in the UK and Ireland.

Formed in 2003, SphereOptics serves the German, German-speaking and Eastern European markets with light measurement, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic and hyperspectral instrumentation as well as diffuse reflectance materials and optical standards. SphereOptics distributes the products made by Labsphere, Radiant Imaging, ASD and Headwall Photonics. SphereOptics GmbH was originally the German sister of US firm SphereOptics LLC, which was acquired by fellow US firm Labsphere in 2010 (resulting in SphereOptics GmbH distributing the integrating sphere and light measurement products of the combined Labsphere/SphereOptics).

Pro-Lite and SphereOptics share a common focus in serving the lighting, LED, display and automotive markets with photometric, spectroradiometric and goniophotometric test equipment for luminaires, solid state lighting, lamps, displays and LEDs. The combined frirm's aim is to become the premiere company providing light measurement and optical instrumentation to the European market.

To supporti clients in the LED and solid-state lighting markets, in 2010 Pro-Lite doubled the size of its premises at the Cranfield University Innovation Centre (near Milton Keynes, UK) and invested more than £100,000 ($160,000, €115,000) in a photometric test & demonstration laboratory. The dark-room facility is equipped with 25cm and 1m Labsphere integrating sphere spectroradiometer systems, a luminaire goniophotometer system and imaging photometer from Radiant Imaging, a range of luminance and illuminance photometers and colorimeters from Konica Minolta, and several irradiance spectroradiometers from Ocean Optics.

Pro-Lite also provides a rental service for the hire of photometers that are used to measure the ‘brightness’ and colour of displays and all manner of light sources (lamps, luminaires, LEDs etc). The photometric measurement and equipment hire services will now be available to customers of SphereOptics in Germany, as well as in German-speaking and Eastern European countries.

“There are strong synergies between our two companies which we will exploit to better serve our customers working with LEDs, displays and lighting,” says Pro-Lite director Robert Yeo.

SphereOptics’ Christina Boehme will continue to serve as general manager and minority shareholder under Pro-Lite’s ownership. “We serve similar markets with the same light measurement products from Labsphere and Radiant Imaging,” notes Boehme. “Pro-Lite’s technical leadership will support the growth of the SphereOptics business in Germany and Eastern Europe,” she adds.

Tags: Pro-Lite Technology Photonics

Visit: www.pro-lite.co.uk

Join Semiconductor Today's LinkedIn networking and discussion group