Analytik Jena to acquire Bruker ICP-MS business

The firm said the deal for the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) unit of Bruker is expected to close next month.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bruker is still seeking a buyer for its Gas Chromatography (GC) service business as part of the reduction of its Chemical and Applied Markets (CAM) division announced in July​.

Analytik Jena said it will broaden its atomic spectroscopy portfolio, and will be among the few suppliers that offer AAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS for elemental trace analysis.

The firm anticipated that it will hire the majority of the ICP-MS research employees, the sales and application teams and employees working in technical support and service.

China growth​

Analytik Jena said high growth rates are expected for China – its most important export market.

Klaus Berka, CEO of Analytik Jena, said it will move them one step closer to its three major competitors.

“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,” ​he said. 

He said it sees the acquisition as securing a market position in an exciting growth market.

“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,” ​he said. 

Analytik Jena will acquire or license the entire product know-how belonging to Bruker’s ICP-MS product segment including patents and licensing rights, global research, development and production capacities.

These assets and employees are expected to be integrated into the largest business unit - Analytical Instrumentation.

ICP-MS technology​

Bruker generated revenue of $12m with its ICP-MS business last year, which it acquired from Varian 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.

ICP-MS technology is used as an analysis method and is used for trace element analysis due to its sensitivity and level of quantitative precision.

This precision is achieved through the ionization and atomization of the sample in an inductively coupled plasma and the use of a mass spectrometer to separate and quantify the atomic ions.