I received the following message from Dr. Chuck Larson, AOAS Education Director, in an email this afternoon. Many people may not have realized that a deal was in the works for Celestron to be bought out by another company as I was unaware, but after reading the message below I feel that this might be a benefit to us as amateur astronomers in the long run. I offer this story as I received it for your inspection and contemplation.
CELESTRON PURCHASED BY SW TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, A DELAWARE COMPANY, AFFILIATE OF SYNTA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
Leading telescope manufacturer purchased by long term overseas optics
manufacturer
TORRANCE, CA -- April 6, 2005 --
Celestron, one of the world's
leading designers and manufacturers of telescopes, binoculars,
spotting scopes and microscopes, today announced that SW Technology
Corporation, a Delaware company, an affiliate of Synta Technology
Corporation ("Synta") acquired all of the outstanding members
ownership interests of the company. Synta is a well-known optics
manufacturer that has participated in the development of some of
Celestron's most popular products, such as the NexStar GT
computerized telescope line. Synta has been a Celestron supplier for
over 15 years.
Celestron will continue to be led by the senior management team of
Joseph A. Lupica and Richard L. Hedrick with Chairman Alan Hale and
Celestron founder Tom Johnson remaining as consultants. Synta and its
related companies will continue to manufacture and supply other
telescopes and related products for Celestron. As a result of the
acquisition, Celestron will be in a position to meet all current
financial obligations and continue to lead the product engineering,
development and manufacturing processes from the Torrance, California
headquarters. All product warranties will stay in effect and product
support will not be interrupted or delayed. The company's first goal
is to fill a three month backlog of product orders and work to resume
full scale production and product development operations.
"I have always had great admiration and respect for Celestron's
products and have had a very close and warm relationship with the
company and its management team for the past 15 years," said David
Shen, Synta founder. "I am committed to maintaining Celestron's
reputation of quality and innovation and will support their continued
efforts to create and engineer products that give value to the
consumer. I want to assure everyone that Celestron's operations will
remain in Torrance, the management team will stay intact, and
Celestron will continue to develop innovative products of the highest
quality for amateur astronomers."
Shen said that since the reorganization in 2002 Celestron has been
unable to take advantage of the market demand for its products
because it was under capitalized. In addition, the long and expensive
litigation initiated by its US competitor made it more difficult for
the company to meet customer demands for existing and new products.
Shen says those issues are now in the past. With the additional
capital infusion required for the growth of the company, Shen has
"full confidence that the current senior management team will be able
to carry through the expansion of Celestron and continue to develop
and manufacture high-end telescopes and related products to its loyal
clientele."
"Synta has deep understanding of the telescope industry and
appreciation for the value of Celestron's products," said Celestron
CEO Joseph A. Lupica. "They are investing in Celestron to grow
Celestron's business and that is a very positive development. This
acquisition is in the best interest of Celestron dealers, employees,
consumers and the telescope industry as a whole. Synta and Celestron
will form a strong team to provide competitive products of the
highest quality for consumers." Lupica added, "I am very excited to
be in a position whereby our entire workforce will be able to focus
100% of our energies on the development, production and distribution
of high quality optical products. I am just as excited when I
consider the innovative products we will be able to develop with the
assistance of one of the leading telescope suppliers in the world,
Synta Technology. It's time to go back to work for our customers
doing what we do best."
This acquisition takes place among rumors that Celestron would be
purchased by their main competitor, Meade Instruments. Although
officials at Meade Instruments have expressed an interest in
acquiring Celestron, the action has been blocked by the FTC several
times. According to Lupica, Meade has continually approached
Celestron management with buyout offers over the past few years. He
pointed out that Celestron's senior management had a fiduciary
responsibility to consider all reasonable offers, including an offer
from a major competitor that would be subject to them obtaining the
approval of the FTC. Celestron management also negotiated with
several other interested parties before accepting Synta's offer.
In response to a recent article in the Orange County Register, Lupica
said, "We chose not to comment for the OC Register article because we
felt it was inappropriate to comment on matters that were still in
negotiation. Contrary to previous reports that the company is being
purchased for a price below liquidation value, in fact each existing
owner is getting a return on their original investment."
About Celestron
With corporate offices and manufacturing, in Torrance, California,
Celestron has been a leading designer, manufacturer and importer of
high-quality optical products including telescopes and related
accessories, binoculars and microscopes for almost 40 years.
Celestron is a leader in the sale of performance telescopes worldwide
and has very strong brand-name recognition among serious amateur
astronomers for superior optics, outstanding design, and innovative
technology. Celestron sells its products worldwide through a variety
of specialty retail outlets and international distributors. Celestron
is a privately held company. * First to offer a commercially available fully computerized "GoTo"
telescope
* First to offer GPS telescopes
* First to offer a commercially available Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope
* First to offer commercially available Schmidt cameras
* First to offer a larger aperture Schmidt-Cassegrain (22") true
observatory telescope for consumers or research facilities
* First to offer PEC (Periodic Error Correction) in consumer
telescopes
* First to offer StarBrightŪ multi-coatings for the highest
throughput transmission
Known throughout the world for superior optics, Celestron is
recognized for many industry firsts including:
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