Sarin to Buy Diamond Technology Firm Galatea

Sarin has announced its intentions to purchase Galatea Ltd, a company with technology for the automated evaluation of internal features in diamonds. Sarin will pay $10.77 million in a mostly cash deal for a full 100 percent acquisition of the Israeli firm.

Galatea is engaged in the development of a unique and innovative technology for the fully automated evaluation of internal features in rough and polished diamonds, the company said in a release, adding that the technology will significantly improve the realized yield of rough stones.

According to Sarin, currently there is no similar cost-effective automated system for the evaluation of a diamond's internal features in the market.

The technology is expected to be incorporated into some of Sarin’s rough diamond planning products.

Of the $10.77 million, $9 million is to be paid in cash and the balance through the issuance of 6,859,225 new shares of Sarin. Galatea’s shareholders shall be entitled to receive additional payments during a 4-year sales period from additional sales, revenue generated from use of the product in Sarin’s service centers and potential future application of the technology.

Galatea, according to a Sarin statement, had -$22,000 in net tangible assets at the close of 2007, and a net loss of $1.32 million.