Gooch & Housego, the Somerset-based optical components manufacturer, has swooped for two businesses in the aerospace and defence sector.

The company has acquired Kent Periscopes, based in North Wales, and US-based Alfalight. They have a combined annual turnover of about £9m.

Kent Periscopes is based in St Asaph and this year won a Queen's Award for international trade. Its new owner was also a recipient of an award for innovation. The company develops products for armoured fighting vehicles with a long-term order book of more than £20m.

Gooch & Housego will pay up to £9.5m with £7m of that up front, funded from existing cash and debt facilities. A further £2.5m will be dependent on future performance.

Ian Riggs, James Down and Anna Duxbury from Hill Dickinson's corporate team advised Kent Periscopes on the transaction.

Alfalight is based in Wisconsin in the US and develops laser-based electro-optic systems for defence and security applications. Gooch & Housego bought the business for $1.3m (£1m) and will incorporate it into its existing operations in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mark Webster, chief executive of Gooch & Housego, said: "These acquisitions meet our strategic aims of moving up the value chain and diversification through increasing our footprint in the aerospace and defence sector.

"Kent is a well-established business with an impressive list of international blue chip customers. We believe that G&H will enable this business to fulfil its true potential through leveraging our greater global reach and our complementary technological capabilities.

"Alfalight's expertise in diode lasers in the US defence sector is an excellent fit for our Boston business and will enable it to establish a critical mass in this marketplace."