D3 Family Fund buys 90,000 Brooks Automation shares, pushes for buyback program

By Angela McDaniels

Tacoma, Wash., Oct. 7 - Brooks Automation, Inc. investors led by D3 Family Fund LP are asking the company to immediately launch a "substantial" and "aggressive" share repurchase program.

The investors believe the company will have enough cash over the next three or four years to both reduce the outstanding number of shares by nearly half and double its revenues through organic growth and acquisitions, according to a letter to Brooks president and chief executive officer Robert J. Lepofsky. The letter was included in a schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The investors would like to see the company repurchase shares as the first step in a longer-term program to grow earnings per share and to increase return on invested capital by actively managing revenue growth, costs and capital structure.

D3 and its affiliates purchased 90,000 shares of the company's common stock for $9.47 to $9.60 each between Aug. 12 and Aug. 29.

Following the purchases, the investors beneficially own 6,346,806 shares, or 9.98%, of the company's stock. They reported a 9.1% stake in June.

Brooks Automation is a Chelmsford, Mass., supplier of technology products and solutions to the semiconductor market.

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