USHIO Announces Acquisition of Full Ownership of Necsel

― Acquiring 51% of Outstanding Shares ―

Tokyo, Japan – December 27, 2010 – USHIO INC. is pleased to announce that on December 21, 2010, Ushio America, Inc. (“UAI”; Head office: California, USA; President: Kenji Hamashima), a wholly-owned subsidiary of USHIO INC. (“USHIO”; Head Office: Tokyo; President: Shiro Sugata), purchased all of the outstanding shares of semiconductor laser manufacturer Necsel Intellectual Property, Inc. (“Necsel”; Head office: California, USA; President & CEO: William Mackenzie) to acquire full ownership of Necsel.

In May 2009, UAI acquired 49% of the outstanding shares of Necsel with the intention of acquiring a 100% equity interest within the next five years. It brought forward the original plan to purchase all of Necsel’s outstanding shares, to accelerate the solid state light source business.

Necsel was founded in November 2008, incorporating technology and patents formerly owned by US semiconductor laser R&D company Novalux to develop and commercialize high power lasers that generate both infra-red and visible laser wavelengths.

Use of Necsel’s patented technology has enabled high-power miniature lasers with simple structures that are characterized by high wavelength conversion efficiency and reliability. Moreover, as the laser can be manufactured with wafer-based technologies, reduced manufacturing cost can be expected through automation.

The Ushio Group is committed to steadily advancing research and development through Necsel, to enable the use and early commercialization of semiconductor lasers as light sources for digital cinemas, digital projectors, specialized lighting, and other products. 

Necsel is the developer and owner of the proprietary Necsel™ laser technology. The Necsel technology, which was invented in 1998, is the first high power visible laser light source to combine mass manufacturability with a compact, low-cost package.
Necsel is able to deliver the necessary red, green and blue wavelengths to enter the consumer lighting marketplace in projection applications such as digital cinemas and front projection. Laser wavelengths allow for desirable attributes like higher brightness, more saturated colors with wider color gamut, and higher reliability for longer lifetime and lower operating costs. Necsel will also penetrate many illumination and lighting applications. This includes a wide variety of applications such as “laser neon”, a replacement for neon tube lighting, and laser LCD backlight units. For more information: http://necsel.com/

Novalux, Inc. developed the Novalux Extended Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (Necsel)-brand visible-light laser, from which Necsel Intellectual Property, Inc. has taken its name. It was known for superior technological capabilities in the visible-light laser field, notably the joint development of a laser light source module for projector TVs with a leading Japanese electronics manufacturer as well as the presentation of the “laser TV” prototype at the 2007 International CES.

Established in 1967 as a subsidiary of USHIO Inc., Japan, UAI has two manufacturing sites in North America, and now offers over 3,500 items to a variety of industries and markets; General Lighting, Specialty Lighting, Semiconductor, Entertainment, to name a few.  UAI is focused on becoming the number one lighting solutions provider in the Americas through superior service to its customers. UAI serves as an ultimate parent company in the Americas within USHIO group. For more information: http://www.ushio.com/