Laserline acquires majority stake in WBC Photonics
Laserline acquires 70 percent of the shares in US laser specialist WBC Photonics. Laserline is thus opening up new target markets, for example for applications in the field of welding and cutting as well as in additive manufacturing.
Laserline has acquired 70 percent of the shares of the US laser specialist WBC Photonics, headquartered in Boston. With this strategic acquisition, the German diode laser manufacturer is expanding its solution portfolio to include blue laser systems with particularly high beam qualities of 4 mm mrad and better. Laserline is thus positioning itself as a full-service provider for diode lasers in the blue wavelength range and covers a broad product spectrum from systems with high focusability to power levels in the multi-kW range. WBC Photonics was founded through a management buyout of the former Panasonic subsidiary TeraDiode and produces high-power diode lasers in the NIR and blue wavelength range. The high beam quality of the laser systems is achieved through emitter-based wavelength beam combining. The acquisition opens up new target markets for Laserline. The high focusability is important, for example, for applications in the field of welding and cutting as well as in additive manufacturing.
"The acquisition of WBC Photonics is an important step on our way to becoming the world's leading supplier of blue diode lasers. It enables us to offer our customers even more powerful and versatile solutions in the field of industrial blue diode lasers - from exceptionally high beam qualities to unsurpassed high-power classes worldwide," says Dr. Christoph Ullmann, CEO of Laserline. "Our new partnership with Laserline gives us access to global markets for high-power blue lasers," adds Michael Deutsch, CEO of WBC Photonics. "Together we will become the global market leader in blue diode laser technology."