Planar completes acquisition of DOME

APRIL 24--Planar Systems Inc. (Beaverton, OR; www.planar.com), a leader in flat-panel-display solutions, has completed its acquisition of DOME Imaging Systems of Waltham, MA. The purchase price of $61 million was comprised of $49 million in cash, $3 million in new Planar shares issued to certain DOME stockholders, and about $9 million in the value of existing DOME stock options assumed by Planar. Privately held since its founding in 1989, DOME has been an innovator of high-performance display systems for image-intensive health-care applications. The transaction has united two companies with complementary product lines and a combined 30-year presence serving medical-equipment manufacturers and health-care institutions worldwide.

DOME has achieved the leading share of the markets it serves with high-performance flat-panel monitors, controller boards for use in both flat-panel and CRT displays, image calibration devices, and image-enabling software. DOME's referral- and diagnostic-quality flat-panel monitors round out Planar's medical display systems to span the range of imaging needs of the company's growing list of customers. The move toward digital images and electronic patient record keeping in health care is driving the growth in the medical markets Planar serves.