Santa Clara, CA 5/22/18; Santa Clara, CA 5/30/18—Agilent Technologies, a provider of instruments, software, services and solutions, has agreed to purchase one of its distributors as well as an aftermarket partner. The company will acquire Young In Scientific (YI), a distributor of analytical and scientific instruments in South Korea. “Joining forces with our long standing channel partner in South Korea provides Agilent with a solid foundation to address the needs of the growing analytical market in South Korea,” stated Lon Justice, Agilent’s vice president Laboratory Solutions Sales and Marketing. We are very committed to growing our service business in South Korea,” commented Doug McDougall, Agilent’s vice president and general manager, Services and Support Division. Over one hundred YI employees and affiliates are expected to join Agilent as a result of the deal.

Agilent has also entered into an agreement to purchase Ultra Scientific, a chemical standards and certified reference materials supplier with 52 employees. The companies are long-time strategic partners, with Agilent being one of Ultra Scientific’s largest customers. “Ultra Scientific is a unique and high-quality chemical standards company,” commented Steve Cohan, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s Supplies Division. “This acquisition provides immediate core capabilities, bringing critical manufacturing and industry expertise in-house for the first time.”

In its fiscal second quarter financial filing, Agilent disclosed the combined purchased price for both acquisitions is expected to be approximately $60 million, payable in cash.

Regarding the YI purchase, an Agilent spokesperson told IBO, “YI have a large installed base in gas phase division products and share excellent alignment with Agilent in the life sciences and chemical analysis end markets of food, pharmaceuticals, environmental, and academia and government.” Commenting on Agilent’s investment in its South Korean service business, she said, “Korea is a large and important market–currently, it is the world’s 11th largest economy. Over the last several years, Agilent has been moving towards a direct-to-customer model in Korea. This acquisition brings a large installed base of Agilent customers and will add more than 100 sales and support employees.”

She added, “The combined teams will enable accelerated growth in South Korea and enhance the customer experience.” According to Agilent, YI is one of the South Korea’s largest analytical instrument distributors. YI provides analytical instruments as well as clinical systems to medical and hospital customers.

The Ultra Scientific purchase adds to Agilent’s growing aftermarket business, with a focus on standards, which are an integral part of laboratory processes. The companies have been partners for over 25 years. Founded in 1976 and based in Rhode Island, Ultra Scientific serves a range of end-markets, such as environmental, food, forensics, pharmaceutical, chemical and energy, and academia and government, which are also key segments for Agilent. The company provides over six thousand products, according to its website. Product lines include certified reference materials, organic and inorganic standards, calibration standards, IQ/OQ/PQ (Installation Qualification/Operational Qualification/Performance Qualification), QC check standards and custom solutions.