London Firm to Pay $38 Million for 90% of Melles Griot

Melles Griot, an Irvine-based manufacturer of lasers and optical products, has agreed to sell a 90% stake to J. Bibby & Sons of London for about $38 million.

A Melles Griot official said Thursday that the transaction is friendly and that the motivation for the sale was to provide financing for the company’s expansion.

J. Bibby & Sons is a manufacturer of laser optical equipment with annual revenues of more than $850 million.

Melles Griot co-founder Richard P. Griot will resign as the company’s chairman but will continue to work as a consultant for the company. Another co-founder, Jan A. Melles, will stay on as chief executive.

“The transfer of ownership will provide Melles Griot with the necessary resources to continue its strong expansion and to offer an even better level of service to the electro-optical industry,” Griot said in a statement.

The remaining 10% of Melles Griot will continue to be owned by key executives of the firm.

Founded in Orange County in 1969, privately held Melles Griot had 1987 sales of about $40 million and employs 475 people worldwide.

The company has 120 employees in Irvine and Tustin. Most of them are in marketing and distribution, said Paul Kenrick, president of the firm’s optics division. Most of the company’s products are sold to the medical and computer industries.

Kenrick said the company does not anticipate any changes in employment.

“We will continue the growth we’ve had,” he said. The firm’s sales have been growing at an annual rate of about 30%, he said.