Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG has acquired a subsidiary of GSI Group Inc. of Bedford, Mass., for approximately $31.5 million in cash. 

JK Lasers Ltd. of Rugby, England, will become part of Trumpf's SPI Lasers UK Ltd. of Southampton, England. 

"We decided to sell JK Lasers for an attractive valuation in order to redeploy the capital to invest in our growth strategies of building world-class franchises in our core businesses, such as laser scanning and beam delivery, low-power CO2 lasers, medical technologies and precision motion products," said GSI CEO John Roush. "Our focus will be on both organic growth through differentiated new products, and acquisitions that improve our capabilities in target applications." 

JK Lasers has almost 100 employees and generated approximately $22 million in sales in 2014, according to GSI. Its core competence is in fiber lasers with outputs from 100 W to 4 kW, as well as combiners for joining laser sources and other beam-guidance components. The most important target groups of JK Lasers include machine manufacturers for laser cutting applications and for additive manufacturing. 

The newly acquired company will act as an additional production and development center for SPI's fiber lasers and optical components. The companies' combined expertise and product focus areas complement each other in many respects, Trumpf said.