Analytical Technology Manufacturer signs Agreement to Acquire ICP-MS Business

Analytik Jena AG (Germany), manufacturer of analytical measuring technology, life science instruments and optoelectronics, today announced that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire the ICP-MS business of Bruker Corporation. The transaction is expected to close in September 2014. With this acquisition, Analytik Jena AG will enter the rapidly growing global ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) market. Analytik Jena will thereby further broaden its atomic spectroscopy portfolio, and will be among the few suppliers that offer all three core technologies for elemental trace analysis (AAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS).

"With the acquisition of the ICP-MS business from Bruker, we expect to close an important technological gap and will be in position to offer our customers a much broader portfolio of elemental spectrometry systems. This will move Analytik Jena one step closer to its three major competitors. We see this planned acquisition as securing our market position in an exciting growth market," said Klaus Berka, CEO of Analytik Jena AG. "Shortly after the successful market launch of our ICP-OES technology this past fall, we are now taking the next strategically important step of expanding the product portfolio in our core business with analytical measuring technology."

As part of the purchase, Analytik Jena AG will acquire or license the entire product know-how belonging to Bruker's ICP-MS product segment including patents and licensing rights, as well as global research, development and production capacities. Furthermore, Analytik Jena AG anticipates that it will hire from Bruker the majority of the ICP-MS research employees, the sales and application teams and particularly also the employees working in technical support and service. These assets and employees are expected to be integrated into the largest business unit Analytical Instrumentation at Analytik Jena.

"With this acquisition, Analytik Jena will have access to an excellent and globally installed ICP-MS customer base. This provides us with a great starting point for increased immersion into sales sectors which we were not previously focused on. We also benefit from our enhanced sales presence, for instance in the area of environmental analysis, which is considered to have the greatest growth potential for ICP-MS," continued Berka.

In the year 2013, Bruker generated revenue of approximately USD 12 million with its ICP-MS business, which it had acquired from Varian Inc. in 2010. The global ICP-MS market is expected to be among the fastest growing markets in the area of spectroscopy with annual growth rates between 5% and 8% percent over the next five years. High growth rates are expected for Analytik Jena AG's most important export market, China in particular.

ICP-MS technology is used as an analysis method for detecting a broad range of elements and has become one of the more popular methods of trace element analysis due to its sensitivity and level of quantitative precision. This precision is achieved through the ionisation and atomisation of the sample in an inductively coupled plasma and the subsequent use of a mass spectrometer to separate and quantify the atomic ions. The ICP-MS method is used in geochemistry, materials science, semiconductor analysis, food tests, pharma-clinical analyses, forensics and environmental studies and is globally one of the most sought-after technologies by customers thanks to its high level of sensitivity.