The acquired shares will be canceled by the company and will no longer be included in the company’s issued or outstanding common stock. After paying the purchase price for the shares, the company has approximately $57.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.

“We are pleased to have successfully completed this stock buyback, which we expect to be immediately accretive to our earnings per share,” states Robert G. Deuster, chairman and CEO. “In addition, as Thermo Electron had indicated its intention to sell these shares over time, this transaction eliminates the overhang represented by these shares. We believe that this repurchase is an attractive use of cash at this price, and that our current working capital position, together with our expected future cash flows from operations, will be more than adequate to fund our operations in the foreseeable future.”

Spectra-Physics was purchased for $175 million in cash after a post-closing adjustment, a $50 million promissory note bearing 5% interest and payable in 2009, and the now-repurchased 3.2 million shares of Newport common stock, which were valued at $50 million at the closing of the transaction, based on the average share price of $15.53 for the 20 trading days ended 2 days prior to the transaction’s closing.