April 14, 2010 (FinancialWire) — FEI Company (NASDAQ: FEIC) said it plans to relocate the manufacturing of its Small DualBeam™ product line from Eindhoven, the Netherlands to its facility in Brno, Czech Republic.

The move is expected to take approximately nine months and involves products with approximately $60 million in annual revenue, or approximately 10 percent of the company's total revenue. The implementation and timing of this plan are subject to local contractual, legal and regulatory requirements as well as communications and negotiations with the Eindhoven site's works council and trade unions.

FEI's facility in the Czech Republic has been building all of FEI's scanning electron microscopes and other products, including nearly half of its Small DualBeam product line, for many years. After completion of the move, all Small DualBeam production will be located in the Czech Republic.

When the planned move is completed, approximately 50 manufacturing and related jobs are expected to be transferred from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic. The company expects to incur restructuring costs related to the move, primarily for severance, training and build-out of its existing facility in Brno. The company also expects to incur severance costs for individuals not associated with the product line move.

In total, the cost for these actions is estimated to be between $6.5 million and $10.3 million, with the majority of the charges expected to be incurred in the second quarter of 2010 and the remainder spread between the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011. The estimated expenses are subject to change until the conclusion of the consultation process with the works council and trade unions. Estimated savings from the product line move and severance are expected to be approximately $4.5 million per year, after full implementation.

FEI plans to maintain significant global research, development and marketing operations in Eindhoven, along with manufacturing for high-end electron microscope systems. Before the move, FEI has about 550 employees in Eindhoven, 280 in Brno and 350 at its headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon.

FEI (NASDAQ: FEIC) is a leading diversified scientific instruments company.

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