LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH). Orlando, Fla., has
entered into a joint venture agreement with CDGM Glass Co., Ltd.
LightPath and CDGM will each own a 50% interest in the joint venture
which will be organized under the name "LightPath CDGM Chengdu
Optical Co., Ltd." and located in Chengdu, China. The initial
capital contribution of each party to the joint venture will be a cash
investment equivalent to five million U.S. dollars.
CDGM is owned by China South Industries Group Corp., a state owned
enterprise. CDGM is China's largest optical glass manufacturer
producing preforms for optical companies to convert into optical lens.
The initial business purpose of the joint venture shall be to
develop, mold, and manufacture aspheric lenses with a diameter of less
than 20 mm for high volume visible imaging applications for cell phones,
digital cameras and video equipment. The joint venture may also assemble
modules that will include the lenses for such applications. The joint
venture will sell and distribute its products in China and international
markets and will provide technical and after-sale services. The target
production volume of the joint venture is one million lenses per month
which the parties believe can be achieved after 12 months of
manufacturing operations. If LightPath and CDGM agree, the joint
venture's production capacity can be expanded with additional
investment of five million U.S. dollars from each of the joint venture
partners.
The market demand for cell phones and digital cameras is about 700
million lenses per year, per the study "The Development of Camera
Phone Module Industry, 2005-2006" by Beijing RIC Consulting Co.,
Ltd., (C) 2007. The study states the number of phones and cameras that
use greater than 3 mega pixel resolutions is about 10% of the market.
LightPath believes that aspheric lenses above the 3 mega pixel ranges
for cell phones, digital cameras and other equipment will significantly
enhance the resolution and provide the potential for future functional
enhancements in such equipment and will replace the mixed plastic and
glass lenses currently used for such applications. LightPath and CDGM
have unique technologies and capabilities which they believe, when
integrated, can provide excellent solutions to the requirements of this
market.
LightPath is providing several key elements that are integral to
the operation of the joint venture as follows:
First, LightPath has agreed to produce Viper presses which will be
sold to the joint venture. LightPath anticipates that production of the
presses will require an additional investment by LightPath of
approximately four and one- half million dollars.
Second, LightPath has agreed to license certain of its technology
to the joint venture for which it will receive a 3% royalty based upon
sales by the joint venture.
Finally, Joe Wu, LightPath's executive vice president, has
been appointed as the General Manager of the joint venture with
responsibility over the day-to-day operations of the joint venture.
LightPath intends to consolidate the joint venture for financial
statement purposes since LightPath has the right to appoint a majority
of the members to the joint venture's Board of Directors and CDGM
does not have substantive participating rights.
The joint venture agreement is subject to governmental approval in
Chengdu, China. Subject to the parties meeting the capital investment
requirements of the joint venture agreement, the joint venture will be
established and commence operations upon satisfaction of all licensing
requirements and the Chengdu Municipal Administration Bureau for
Industry and Commerce has issued a business license for the joint
venture. LightPath and CDGM have commenced transitional efforts and
expect the joint venture to be operational by no later than July 1,
2008.
Mr. Ripp, chairman of LightPath's Board of Directors,
commented: "First, I want to thank CDGM Chairman Mr. Li Zong Qiao,
and his team at CDGM, and Jim Gaynor and Joe Wu from LightPath, for
their leadership and hard work in making this joint venture come
together. LightPath is thrilled that such an important company as CDGM
sees the value of our technology and has the confidence in our resources
to participate in this venture. For LightPath, the joint venture
represents a major step of the strategy shift that we have been
implementing. We have been making investments to allow LightPath to
compete in the high volume, low cost lens market. We believed that the
way for LightPath to execute its transformational strategy in the
"consumer market" for optical lenses was to partner with a
major material supplier like CDGM to reduce the execution risk of that
strategy. We are confident that with the combined resources of LightPath
and CDGM the joint venture will be able to design and deliver high
volume, low cost lenses that will be differentiated from and
competitively priced with current mixed lens applications."
Ripp continued: "Through the work of Jim Gaynor and his team
to develop a new business model for LightPath, and strategies for
achieving that business model, LightPath is becoming a high volume,
lower cost manufacturer. We believe that those skills and "know
how" being developed at LightPath will be of great benefit to the
joint venture as well.
Mr. Ripp also stated that, "We believe that our gross margins
are poised for significant improvement. We have implemented several
variable cost reduction measures that will give us a lower production
cost base and, in turn, allow us to be more aggressive in competitively
pricing our products. We believe that our new pricing models will
increase demand for our products and increase our revenue. LightPath
intends to continue to enhance and expand, as appropriate, the Shanghai
and Orlando facilities to meet the market demands for visible imaging
applications for its lenses above 11mm, laser- based industrial high
volume tools, infra red applications, and high volume laser telecom
applications, as well as other industrial laser applications and defense
applications. We believe that our entry into the joint venture and other
initiatives we are pursuing will lead LightPath down a new path that
will provide the opportunity for us to leverage our technology to
achieve improvements in sales and operating performance going forward.
LightPath manufactures optical products including precision molded
aspheric optics, precision molded infrared optics, GRADIUM(R) glass
products, proprietary collimator assemblies, isolators utilizing
proprietary automation technology, higher-level assemblies and packing
solutions. LightPath has a strong patent portfolio that has been granted
or licensed to us in these fields. LightPath common stock trades on the
NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "LPTH." Investors are
encouraged to go to LightPath's website for additional financial
information.
For more information, visit http://www.lightpath.com or call
407/382-4003.
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