Key Takeaways
- • Arlington Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Gooch & Housego (G&H), taking the London-listed precision optics and laser components maker private at an enterprise value of £400.5 million.
- • The offer valued G&H's equity at about £345.6 million, a 40.7% premium to the prior day's closing share price.
- • G&H generated revenue of £150.5 million for the year ending September 2025, up 10.7%, with adjusted operating profit of £14.4 million; estimated EBITDA for the 12 months to March 31, 2026 was roughly £23 million to £25 million, implying a valuation of about 16x to 17x EBITDA.
- • The deal is being made through Greenlight Bidco, backed by Arlington's seventh fund, which held its final hard cap close in October 2025 with $6 billion in commitments.
- • G&H's components serve aerospace and defense, industrial and life sciences end markets, with defense cited as a faster-growing outlet for precision optics.
Summary
Arlington Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Gooch & Housego (G&H), a British maker of precision optics and laser components, taking the London-listed company private at an enterprise value of £400.5 million. Arlington's offer valued G&H's equity at about £345.6 million, a premium of 40.7% to the company's closing share price the day before.
G&H designs and manufactures components that control, steer and focus light, including precision lenses and optical systems, acousto-optic and electro-optic devices, fiber optic components, and thin-film coatings and filters. Its brands include ITL, GS Optics, Artemis, Phoenix, StingRay and Kent Periscopes. Its products serve aerospace and defense applications such as directed energy and counter-drone systems, GPS-independent navigation equipment, and undersea and space communications. Industrial customers use its optics in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and telecommunications, and its ITL business supplies optical components and systems for medical devices and diagnostic instruments. The company, founded in 1948 by Archie Gooch and Leslie Housego, has more than 1,000 employees and is led by CEO Charlie Peppiatt. It is headquartered near Taunton in Ilminster, UK.
For the year ending September 2025, G&H reported revenue of £150.5 million, up 10.7% from £136.0 million, and adjusted operating profit of £14.4 million, according to the publisher summary. In the first half of fiscal 2026, revenue was £81.9 million and adjusted operating profit was £7.2 million. PEP estimated G&H's EBITDA for the 12 months to March 31, 2026 at roughly £23 million to £25 million, implying a valuation of about 16x to 17x EBITDA. G&H has grown substantially through acquisitions since 1999, most recently adding GS Plastic Optics, Artemis Optical, Phoenix Optical Technologies and Global Photonics between 2023 and 2025.
The transaction is being executed through Greenlight Bidco, an entity formed by Arlington through its seventh fund, which held its final hard cap close in October 2025 with $6 billion in commitments. Arlington, founded in 1999 and based in the Washington DC area, invests in government-regulated industries including aerospace and defense, government services and technology, and healthcare, and has invested in more than 200 companies and raised more than $14 billion in committed capital. Managing partner Peter Manos said G&H's technologies play critical roles across defense, communications and life sciences, while Ben Ramundo, a managing director, said Arlington intends to build a platform in photonics and optics. Mr. Peppiatt said the private structure would provide greater flexibility to invest in people, technology and manufacturing and to pursue acquisitions at scale.
Market context cited in the source includes Grand View Research's estimate that the global photonics market was about $980 billion in 2024 and will reach $1.3 trillion by 2030, and MarketsandMarkets' projections that the directed energy weapons market will grow from $4.6 billion in 2026 to $12.1 billion by 2035 and the counter-drone systems market from $9.2 billion in 2026 to $29.7 billion by 2031. J.P. Morgan advised Arlington, while Rothschild and Investec advised G&H.
G&H designs and manufactures components that control, steer and focus light, including precision lenses and optical systems, acousto-optic and electro-optic devices, fiber optic components, and thin-film coatings and filters. Its brands include ITL, GS Optics, Artemis, Phoenix, StingRay and Kent Periscopes. Its products serve aerospace and defense applications such as directed energy and counter-drone systems, GPS-independent navigation equipment, and undersea and space communications. Industrial customers use its optics in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and telecommunications, and its ITL business supplies optical components and systems for medical devices and diagnostic instruments. The company, founded in 1948 by Archie Gooch and Leslie Housego, has more than 1,000 employees and is led by CEO Charlie Peppiatt. It is headquartered near Taunton in Ilminster, UK.
For the year ending September 2025, G&H reported revenue of £150.5 million, up 10.7% from £136.0 million, and adjusted operating profit of £14.4 million, according to the publisher summary. In the first half of fiscal 2026, revenue was £81.9 million and adjusted operating profit was £7.2 million. PEP estimated G&H's EBITDA for the 12 months to March 31, 2026 at roughly £23 million to £25 million, implying a valuation of about 16x to 17x EBITDA. G&H has grown substantially through acquisitions since 1999, most recently adding GS Plastic Optics, Artemis Optical, Phoenix Optical Technologies and Global Photonics between 2023 and 2025.
The transaction is being executed through Greenlight Bidco, an entity formed by Arlington through its seventh fund, which held its final hard cap close in October 2025 with $6 billion in commitments. Arlington, founded in 1999 and based in the Washington DC area, invests in government-regulated industries including aerospace and defense, government services and technology, and healthcare, and has invested in more than 200 companies and raised more than $14 billion in committed capital. Managing partner Peter Manos said G&H's technologies play critical roles across defense, communications and life sciences, while Ben Ramundo, a managing director, said Arlington intends to build a platform in photonics and optics. Mr. Peppiatt said the private structure would provide greater flexibility to invest in people, technology and manufacturing and to pursue acquisitions at scale.
Market context cited in the source includes Grand View Research's estimate that the global photonics market was about $980 billion in 2024 and will reach $1.3 trillion by 2030, and MarketsandMarkets' projections that the directed energy weapons market will grow from $4.6 billion in 2026 to $12.1 billion by 2035 and the counter-drone systems market from $9.2 billion in 2026 to $29.7 billion by 2031. J.P. Morgan advised Arlington, while Rothschild and Investec advised G&H.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.