Peaks of Interest

Phenomenex announces acquisitions

Phenomenex, Inc. (Torrance, California) announced that it has acquired Chemtek Analytica S.R.L. (Bologna, Italy), a subsidiary of Labservice Analytica S.R.L., and privately held SupWare (Hilleroed, Denmark).

The two companies were exclusive distributors for chromatography products developed by Phenomenex. Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

"Phenomenex has had long, successful partnerships with these companies, so buying them represents a natural progression for us," stated Fasha Mahjoor, founder and CEO of Phenomenex.

Airgas purchases Linde's packaged gas business

Airgas, Inc. (Radnor, Pennsylvania) announced a definitive agreement to acquire a significant part of the United States packaged gas business of Linde AG (Wiesbaden, Germany) for $310 million in cash, to be financed under its revolving credit facility.

The operations to be acquired include branches, warehouses, packaged gas fill plants, and other operations involved in distributing packaged industrial and specialty gases and related equipment. The business includes 130 locations in 18 states, with 1400 employees.

Eksigent pushes distribution into Sweden and Denmark

Eksigent (Dublin, California) announced a new distribution agreement with Sweden-based Crelab Instruments AB. The agreement covers sales and service of Eksigent's NanoLC HPLC product line in Sweden and Denmark.

Crelab Instruments AB specializes in automation, chromatography sales, and support. The company provides laboratory equipment to customers in pharmaceutical research, biotech, hospitals, universities, and research institutes as well as the food industry. Crelab Instruments' solutions focus on front-end automation, custom systems, and special automated applications.

Agilent honors Australian researcher

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Palo Alto, California) announced it has presented its 2007 Manfred Donike Award for scientific excellence in doping control to Australian researcher Adam Cawley, a chemist at the National Measurement Institute of Australia. Cawley, who is also a doctoral student at the University of Sydney's School of Chemistry, was honored for his research on the diagnostic value of specific urine-sample screening markers for endogenous steroid abuse in athletes.

Agilent sponsors this annual award to recognize distinguished scientific contributions in the field of sports medicine. Award winners are scientists who exemplify scientific leadership.