Coherent Board of Directors Approves $1.00 Per Share Special Dividend

Coherent COHR, announced today that the company's Board of Directors has approved a $1.00 per share special cash dividend on its outstanding common stock payable on December 27, 2012 to stockholders of record on December 19, 2012. "Given the unique uncertainty surrounding future tax rates, we elected to return money to our stockholders by way of a special one-time dividend. This dividend does not compromise either our strategic goals or strong balance sheet and does not impact our previously announced $25 million share repurchase authorization," said John Ambroseo, President and CEO. Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets and part of the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index. For more information about Coherent, visit the company's website at http://www.coherent.com for product and financial updates.