Renishaw buys stake in laser specialist

The £2.3 million investment in family-owned MDL is accompanied by an agreement which also provides for the remaining shares to be purchased during the next four years. Founded in 1983 MDL, which also has a marine centre of excellence in Aberdeen and a base in Houston, Texas, has become a global pioneer in manufacturing eye-safe, laser-based, time-of-flight measurement systems used in a wide range of applications worldwide in quarrying, mining, marine positioning, aviation, civil engineering and traffic control. No changes are anticipated at MDL, which has 50 staff, with founder Steve Ball remaining president in Houston and Elaine Ball remaining managing director in the UK. Renishaw's assistant chief executive, Ben Taylor, said: "We have many reasons to be interested in such a high quality business, one being that its laser systems complement Renishaw's own metrology products and have the potential to be integrated with them. At MDL, Ball said the similarities between MDL and Renishaw were "amazing". He went on: "The main difference being that Renishaw measures small things and we measure large things. With Renishaw's support and investment, MDL will accelerate its drive to become a world-class company benefiting all our stakeholders and customers." MDL has two operating divisions: sensors, which designs and manufactures generic time-of-flight laser distance meters and systems, which designs and manufactures laser-based positioning and 3D-scanning products.