FEI Announces Plans for Facility Expansion in the Czech Republic
June 07 2012 - 6:00AM
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) announced plans to consolidate and expand
its manufacturing capacity by entering into a build-to-suit
arrangement to construct a new facility in Brno, Czech Republic.
The new facility will include approximately 270,000 square feet
with options for expansion and will be used for manufacturing,
research and development and administration. It will be
approximately twice the size of the existing operation in Brno. The
facility will be leased with a minimum commitment of 10 years with
multiple options to extend or terminate. It will replace three
different currently-leased buildings. The new operation will be in
the CTPark-Brno II, located about 12 kilometers from the current
site. The new facility will enable FEI to consolidate its Czech
operations under one roof which will provide a better flow of
production, the ability to ramp volumes, reduced costs and is
expandable to support future growth.
FEI expects to begin operations in the new building in early
2014 with full operations by the end of that year. The Company
plans to spend approximately $35 million, mainly in 2013, to
fit-out the building with clean rooms, equipment and office
space.
FEI has been operating a site in the Czech Republic since 1998.
Production has grown from under 10% of product revenue to nearly
60% projected for 2012. FEI has approximately 500 employees in the
Czech Republic.
Commenting on the announcement, Jiri Ocadlik, Vice President
Manufacturing - Brno, stated, "We are very excited about the new
facility as it is our first ever build-to-suit operation within
FEI. With new and efficient operations, all employees located
together and the ability to expand, the new facility should enable
us to increase capacity and reduce operating costs."
FEI is also investing approximately $5 million to expand its
operation in Eindhoven, The Netherlands to accommodate increased
demand for high-base Titan-class transmission electron
microscopes.
About Brno, Czech Republic
Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic with a
metro area population of approximately 800,000. It is located about
180 kilometers east of Prague and is the historical capital of
Moravia with a history dating back nearly 1,000 years. It is best
known as a university town with 13 colleges and universities and
approximately 90,000 students. It is the technology hub of the
Czech Republic with many technology companies operating in the
area. Brno is centrally located in Europe and offers a wealth of
trained and talented workers, a low cost environment, favorable tax
structures and subsidies, and full access to the EU.
About FEI
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) is a leading supplier of scientific
instruments for nanoscale applications across many industries:
materials science, life sciences, semiconductors, data storage,
natural resources and more. With more than 60 years of
technological innovation and leadership, FEI has set the
performance standard in transmission electron microscopes (TEM),
scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and DualBeams™, which combine a
SEM with a focused ion beam (FIB). Headquartered in Hillsboro,
Ore., USA, FEI has over 2,200 employees and sales and service
operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More
information can be found at: www.fei.com.
The FEI Company logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6379
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that
include statements regarding FEI's intended new facilities in Brno,
Czech Republic, growth in production volumes and capacity in those
facilities, expected production improvements and efficiencies, cost
reductions to be gained, expansion of facilities, expected costs to
fit-out the building and estimated time to complete construction
and occupy the new facilities. Factors that could affect these
forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: delays
and failures in permitting and construction, underutilization of
the facility due to a slow-down in FEI's businesses, failure to
realize the benefits of the new factory and additional unexpected
costs to fit-out the facilities. Please also refer to our Form
10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on
these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes
no duty to update forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: FEI Company
Fletcher Chamberlin
Treasurer & Communications Director
(503) 726-7710
fletcher.chamberlin@fei.com
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