News Details

Novanta Acquired Zettlex

May 2, 2018

Acquires leading supplier of inductive encoders that deliver high-performance in extreme conditions for medical, industrial and defense equipment manufacturers

Novanta Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVT), a trusted technology partner to medical and advanced technology equipment manufacturers, announced today that it has acquired privately-held Zettlex Holdings Limited ("Zettlex").

Zettlex, based in Cambridge, England, provides original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") with inductive encoders that can provide absolute and accurate positioning even in extreme operating environments. Zettlex has approximately 40 employees and won the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2017 and for International Trade in 2018. Zettlex has grown rapidly as the result of strong demand for their compact, accurate, lightweight and robust position sensors. Zettlex was founded by Darran Kreit and Mark Howard, who have agreed to remain with the business, and Zettlex will operate as part of Novanta's Celera Motion business. Zettlex founders issued the following statement, "Zettlex has grown quickly in recent years and we're excited to join Novanta as we believe this provides the opportunity to accelerate growth still further."

"By combining our commercial resources and application specific competencies with Zettlex's technologies and strong team, Celera Motion can broaden the components and solutions we can provide our customers," said Matthijs Glastra, Chief Executive Officer of Novanta. "We see a growing demand for precision motion technology in robotics, precision automation and key medical markets, and we're excited to add a complementary technology to our precision motion offerings. In particular, many of Celera Motion's customers desire absolute encoder technology, and we are pleased to be able to meet their needs."

Celera Motion, headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, is a market leading provider of motion control components and subsystems for OEMs serving a variety of medical and advanced industrial markets. Celera Motion offers precision encoders, motors, and customized mechatronic solutions that help customers solve challenging motion control problems.

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the ability of Zettlex encoders to provide absolute and accurate positioning, the expectation that Zettlex can further accelerate its growth, the expectation that Messrs. Kreit and Howard will remain with the business, market and demand expectations, and the expectations regarding the impact of the acquisition of Zettlex on the Company's business, including its ability to broaden the Company's components and solutions offerings. All statements contained in this news release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, and are generally identified by words such as "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "future," "could," "should," "plan," "aim," and other similar expressions. Such statements reflect the current beliefs of Company management and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include our ability to make and integrate our acquisitions and realize expected synergies. We also face other general risks, including our ability to realize cost savings from our operating initiatives; general economic conditions; unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates; difficulties associated with exports; risks associated with our international operations; risks associated with newly acquired businesses; our significant dependence upon our customers' capital expenditures, which are subject to cyclical market fluctuations; increased warranty exposure; future competition; violations of our intellectual property rights and our ability to protect our intellectual property against infringement by third parties; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; disruptions in the supply of certain key materials or components; changes in the price for certain parts and components; changes in interest rates; changes in tax laws; credit ratings; failure to comply with local import and export regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate; risks and cost associated with potential write-offs of our substantial intangible assets; and risks associated with maintaining regulatory compliance. Other important risk factors that could affect the outcome of the events set forth in these statements and that could affect the Company's operating results and financial condition are discussed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and in our future filings with the SEC. Such statements are based on the Company's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to the Company. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

About Novanta

Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical and advanced industrial OEMs a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers' demanding applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation and customer success. Novanta's common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "NOVT."

More information about Novanta is available on the Company's website at www.novanta.com. For additional information, please contact Novanta Inc. Investor Relations at (781) 266-5137 or InvestorRelations@Novanta.com.