Coherent Announces Agreement to Sell Aerospace and Defense Business to Advent for $400 Million

SAXONBURG, Pa., Aug. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) ("Coherent," "We," or the "Company"), a global leader in photonics, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Aerospace and Defense business to Advent, a leading global private equity investor, for $400 million. Proceeds will be used to reduce debt, which will be immediately accretive to Coherent's EPS.

Coherent's Aerospace and Defense designs and manufactures optical and laser systems for defense applications. The business includes approximately 550 employees and 10 geographic sites.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Advent. As part of our strategic portfolio optimization process, this transaction furthers our strategy to concentrate efforts on core growth markets and products," said Jim Anderson, CEO of Coherent.

"Coherent's Aerospace and Defense business is an exceptional business with a distinguished heritage in pioneering optical and laser technology for the world's most demanding applications," said Shonnel Malani, Managing Partner at Advent. "This acquisition is complementary to our existing investments in the sector and underscores our commitment to investing in mission-critical national security technologies. We are excited to partner with the talented management team, and we plan to invest significantly in R&D to further solidify the business's leadership in advanced laser and optical solutions."

Closing Conditions

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. Following close, the Aerospace and Defense business will operate under a new name, which will be announced at a later date. Until that time, the Aerospace and Defense business will continue to operate under the Coherent brand.

About Coherent

Coherent is the global photonics leader. We harness photons to drive innovation. Industry leaders in the datacenter & communications and industrial markets rely on Coherent's world-leading technology to fuel their own innovation and growth.

Founded in 1971 and operating in more than 20 countries, Coherent brings the industry's broadest, deepest technology stack; unmatched supply chain resilience; and global scale to help its customers solve their toughest technology challenges. Visit our website at coherent.com.

About Advent

Advent is a leading global private equity investor committed to working in partnership with management teams, entrepreneurs, and founders to help transform businesses. With 16 offices across five continents, we oversee more than USD $94 billion in assets under management* and have made over 430 investments across 44 countries.

Since our founding in 1984, we have developed specialist market expertise across our five core sectors: business & financial services, consumer, healthcare, industrial, and technology. This approach is bolstered by our deep sub-sector knowledge, which informs every aspect of our investment strategy, from sourcing opportunities to working in partnership with management to execute value creation plans. We bring hands-on operational expertise to enhance and accelerate businesses.

As one of the largest privately-owned partnerships, our 660+ colleagues leverage the full ecosystem of Advent's global resources who bring hands-on operational expertise to help enhance and accelerate businesses. This includes our Portfolio Support Group, insights provided by industry expert Operating Partners and Operations Advisors, as well as bespoke tools to support and guide our portfolio companies as they seek to achieve their strategic goals.

Advent has a strong track record of investing in the national security sector, including past and current investments in Cobham (2020), Ultra Electronics (2022) and Maxar Technologies (2023). The firm will leverage its global network, operating expertise, and long-term investment horizon to support the company's strategic initiatives.

To learn more, visit our website or connect with us on LinkedIn.

*Assets under management (AUM) as of March 31, 2025. AUM includes assets attributable to Advent advisory clients as well as employee and third-party co-investment vehicles.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements, estimates, and projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. The words "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including statements about the timing of closing of the sale of our Aerospace and Defense business, the use of proceeds therefrom, the impact of the sale on our financial results, and our expectations with respect to optimizing our strategic portfolio and focusing on core growth markets, are forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained herein are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from its historical experience and our present expectations or projections.

The Company believes that all forward-looking statements made by it herein 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 global economic conditions, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements herein include but are not limited to: (i) the failure of any one or more of the assumptions stated herein to prove to be correct; (ii) the terms of the Company's indebtedness and ability to service such debt, (iii) risks relating to future integration and/or restructuring actions; (iv) fluctuations in purchasing patterns of customers and end users; (v) the ability of the Company to retain and hire key employees; (vi) changes in demand in the Company's end markets along with the Company's ability to respond to such market changes; (vii) the timely release of new products and acceptance of such new products by the market; (viii) the introduction of new products by competitors and other competitive responses; (ix) the Company's ability to assimilate other recently acquired businesses, and realize synergies, cost savings, and opportunities for growth in connection therewith, together with the risks, costs, and uncertainties associated with such acquisitions; (x) the risks to realizing the benefits of investments in research and development and commercialization of innovations; (xi) the risks that the Company's stock price will not trade in line with industrial technology leaders; (xii) the impact of trade protection measures, such as import tariffs by the United States or retaliatory actions taken by other countries; and/or (xiii) the risks relating to forward-looking statements and other "Risk Factors" identified from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which filings are available from the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments, or otherwise.

Media Contacts

For Coherent:

Amy Wilson

Manager, Corporate Communications

[email protected]

For Advent:

Peter Folland

Senior Communications Manager, Advent

[email protected]

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