HILLSBORO, Ore., April 12, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) announced plans to relocate the manufacturing of its Small DualBeam™ product line from Eindhoven, the Netherlands to its facility in Brno, Czech Republic. The move is expected to take approximately nine months and involves products with approximately $60 million in annual revenue, or approximately 10 percent of the company’s total revenue. The implementation and timing of this plan are subject to local contractual, legal and regulatory requirements as well as communications and negotiations with the Eindhoven site’s works council and trade unions.
FEI’s facility in the Czech Republic has been building all of FEI’s scanning electron microscopes and other products, including nearly half of its Small DualBeam product line, for many years. After completion of the move, all Small DualBeam production will be located in the Czech Republic.
When the planned move is completed, approximately 50 manufacturing and related jobs are expected to be transferred from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic. The company expects to incur restructuring costs related to the move, primarily for severance, training and build-out of its existing facility in Brno. The company also expects to incur severance costs for individuals not associated with the product line move.
In total, the cost for these actions is estimated to be between $6.5 million and $10.3 million, with the majority of the charges expected to be incurred in the second quarter of 2010 and the remainder spread between the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011. The estimated expenses are subject to change until the conclusion of the consultation process with the works council and trade unions. Estimated savings from the product line move and severance are expected to be approximately $4.5 million per year, after full implementation.
FEI plans to maintain significant global research, development and marketing operations in Eindhoven, along with manufacturing for high-end electron microscope systems. Before the move, FEI has about 550 employees in Eindhoven, 280 in Brno and 350 at its headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon.
About FEI:
FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) is a leading diversified scientific instruments company. It is a premier provider of electron and ion-beam microscopes and tools for nanoscale applications across many industries: industrial and academic materials research, life sciences, semiconductors, data storage, natural resources and more. With a 60-year history 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). FEI’s imaging systems provide 3D characterization, analysis and modification/prototyping with resolutions down to the sub-Angstrom (one-tenth of a nanometer) level. FEI’s NanoPorts in North America, Europe and Asia provide centers of technical excellence where its world-class community of customers and specialists collaborate. FEI had $577 million in 2009 revenue, approximately 1780 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: www.fei.com.
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Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding expectations about the Company’s intended move of some manufacturing operations from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic, including expected costs and timing, expected employment changes, future cost reductions and expected savings. In addition, there are forward-looking statements about other severance costs. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: potential delays or failure to implement the Small DualBeam product line move or organizational changes; technical difficulties in manufacturing the Small DualBeam products in the Brno location; a reduction in demand for Small DualBeam products; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; failure to achieve expected organizational efficiencies; unanticipated additional hiring that may reduce organizational efficiencies; failures, delays or other problems arising from the negotiations with the works council or trade unions (including possible work stoppages); and failures, delays or other problems arising from regulatory or judicial review of the activities related to the product line move in the Netherlands. Please also refer to the Company’s Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for other risk factors in the Company’s business. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.
CONTACT: FEI Company
Fletcher Chamberlin, Treasurer & Communications Director
(503) 726-7710
fletcher.chamberlin@fei.com
