Rochester, New York (December 16, 1998) - Navitar Coating Labs, Inc. has purchased GM Vacuum Coating Laboratory, Inc. of Newport Beach Calif., company officials have announced  GM Vacuum produces thin film optical coatings for use in the military, aerospace, semiconductor, movie and cinema, audio visual and medical industries.

Founded in 1967, GM Vacuum is fast becoming a world leader in the Ultra-Violet (UV) optical systems for the UV curing industries.   The company manufactures UV products such as reflectors and UV blocking filters, which are used in the manufacturing of fiber optics, paint curing, printing, graphic arts and printed circuit boards.

The acquisition of GM Vacuum will greatly benefit Navitar Coating Labs and its affiliated companies, owned by brothers Julian and Jeremy Goldstein.  Navitar is a manufacturer of sophisticated optical systems for the machine vision, quality control, semiconductor and electronic inspection industries, as well as audiovisual and presentation products for boardroom and videoconferencing.   After the acquisition, Navitar now has facilities in California, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York.

Navitar plans to aggressively develop and expand the strong position of GM Vacuum in the growing field of UV optical systems.   /GM Vacuum's UV optical systems can dramatically decrease the curing time required for UV inks, paints and resins, therefore substantially increasing the productivity of existing machinery.

Navitar plans to have the new company start producing optical components for its growing zoom division right away.  According to Jeremy Goldstein, this division has seen tremendous growth over the past few years.  In fact, Navitar has provided more than  80,000 lens systems for the machine vision industry.   Navitar is particularly excited about GM Vacuum's ultra precise mirror and beam splitter components for use in the production of the Navitar zoom video inspection products.

The GM Vacuum acquisition is the latest in a series of growth moves by Navitar in recent years. The Rochester-based company plans to continue with its successful expansion policy and grow well into the next century.