Sartorius buys US moisture analysis firm

German laboratory and process equipment company Sartorius has acquired a 100 per cent stake in Omnimark Instrument of the US, boosting its activities in the moisture analysis sector.

Omnimark, founded in 1991, distributes moisture analysers for quality assurance in the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, and also operates a service business. It claims to be a market leader in the 'premium moisture analyser segment' in North America, bringing in $3 million (€2.5m) in sales in 2004, it has supplied its customers with Sartorius' moisture analysis equipment for several years.

Omnimark's in-house product range includes the Mark 3 moisture analyser, which was introduced earlier in 2005. This product is designed to measure weight loss on drying.

Last year, Sartorius reported annual sales of €467.6 million across its activities in lab equipment (undertaken by its Mechatronics division) and biotechnology business.

Dr Joachim Kreuzburg, Sartorius'CEO, described the takeover as 'a relatively small acquisition, which can be quickly integrated into the Sartorius Group, yet one of strategic significance, strengthening our presence in one of our most important regional target markets and with several of our major customer groups'.

"The objective behind this acquisition is to make Omnimark products and services available on our global Sartorius sales platform," he added.