Company Announcements

In November 2016, Rice Lake Weighting Systems acquired Dini Argeo, an Italy-based manufacturer and distributor of weighing equipment and metrology services.

Fiber-based materials firm Ahlstrom, whose offerings include laboratory filtration products, announced in November a merger agreement with specialty paper company Munksjö in a stock-for-stock transaction, creating a €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) company. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

LGC announced in December 2016 a second collaboration agreement with China’s National Institute of Metrology (NIM) for life science metrology and reference material distribution. LGC will distribute selected NIM materials in Europe and China. The collaboration also involves staff exchanges to deliver a work program for technically challeging areas, and sets out a collaboration in provision of proficiency testing schemes.

In December 2016, Linde and Praxair, both suppliers of laboratory gases and related products, announced an all-stock merger agreement valued at $35 billion. Pro forma revenues would total $30 billion. The deal is expected to close this spring.

IKA announced in December 2016 that it opened offices in the UK and Poland.

In February, NuAire announced a partnership with E&I Cooperative Services, a nonprofit purchasing cooperative serving educators and educational institutions.

Xcell Biosciences announced in February that it closed a $12 million Series A private equity financing round, led by HBM Genomics.

Product Introductions

Stirling Ultracold launched in October 2016 the SU780XLE ultra­–low temperature freezer, successor to the SU780UE. It uses 70%–75% less electric power than standard compressor-based ULT freezers, and has a temperature set point range of between -20°C and -86°C and one-third additional sample storage per square unit of floor space compared to previous models.

Mettler-Toledo introduced in October 2016 the Melting Point Excellence instrument models MP55 and P80 for melting point, melting range, boiling point, cloud point and slip melting point determination. It features the One Click graphical user interface as well as multiple, simultaneous sample determination.

In February, Mettler-Toledo released the new ECB (Easy Control Box) for integrated measuring and dosing in chemical process development. It connects to lab sensors and pumps to make real-time mesaurements and controlled dosing available to nonexperts. It allows for the combination of data from all sensors in a single experiment.

Swissgas released in December 2016 the FID dual gas generator for both hydrogen grade 5.0 or 6.0, and Zero Air dedicated to GC-FID analytical devices.

In December 2016, Pion introduced the MacroFLUX device for its dissolution testers. The device extends the utility of in situ concentration monitoring to improve assessment of absorption potential.

Caron Products & Services introduced in January the Wally carbon dioxide incubator, featuring a slim profile and no-touch door opening.

In January, Hanna Instruments released the HI901C automatic potentiometric titrator for high-throughput lab environments. It features multiple titration options.

OHAUS launched the Starter 3100M Bench Meter, which combines pH, ORP, conductivity, TDS, salinity, resistivity and temperature measurements. This is the company’s first Starter series multi-parameter water analysis bench meter.

Sales/Orders of Note

Kewaunee Scientific announced in January the awarding of an $8.4 million laboratory casework contract for the City University of New York’s NYCCT New Academic Building.