Acuity advises Ceres Holographics on its sale to ZEISS

Ceres Holographics was founded in 2009 and is based in Livingston, Scotland. It develops hologram manufacturing technology, and its main focus is holographic windshield displays (HWD) for the automotive market. Using its proprietary manufacturing process, Ceres has built strong commercial relationships with automotive OEMs. This has made it one of the leading players in a market that is moving quickly from concept to production.

Ceres will become part of ZEISS Microoptics, a business unit focused on industrialising holography for high-volume automotive, aerospace and consumer markets. The acquisition adds Ceres’ latest manufacturing innovations to ZEISS’ ProSight® holography platform. It will also speed up the commercialisation of holographic windshield displays and support ZEISS’ entry into wider markets such as retail, near-to-eye displays and public transport. The combined business pairs Ceres’ technical depth and application focus with ZEISS’ global scale, manufacturing capability and customer access.

Andy Travers, CEO at Ceres Holographics, said:

“It was a pleasure working with Owen, Ashley and Matthew at Acuity. They put focused and dedicated effort into the process and quickly got to grips with a groundbreaking technology in a very niche area. A deal like this carries high stakes and significant upside, and getting it right takes careful judgement at every step. You can’t get deals like this over the line without smart, cool heads, and Acuity provided exactly that when it mattered. A great team, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.”

Owen Pethica, Director at Acuity Advisors, said:

“Ceres has built genuinely differentiated hologram manufacturing technology and real traction with automotive OEMs, at the point where holographic windshield displays are moving from concept to production. ZEISS is a natural home to take that to scale. It was a pleasure to work with Andy and the team on this process. The deal adds to Acuity’s track record in photonics and advanced optics, where strategic buyers are paying close attention to enabling manufacturing technology.”