Varian Acquires Oxford Diffraction, Ltd.

Varian Inc. announced that it has acquired Oxford Diffraction, Ltd., a privately owned company based in Abingdon, U.K. Oxford Diffraction is a leader in x-ray crystallography, an analytical technique used by scientists in pharmaceutical research and other research laboratories to determine the structure of both small molecules and large molecules such as proteins.

For crystalline compounds, x-ray crystallography is the most powerful technique available for structural analysis. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) provides complementary structural information for compounds in the solid state and also structural information for compounds in solutions.

"The acquisition of Oxford Diffraction is key to Varian's goal of broadening its range of information-rich detection products for life science research," said Garry W. Rogerson, President and CEO, Varian, Inc. "Oxford Diffraction has experienced rapid growth since its formation in 2001 and has established a strong reputation in single crystal X-ray crystallography, particularly in Europe. Oxford Diffraction products will now be distributed on a global basis via Varian's worldwide distribution network."

"In addition to the obvious benefit to our business of a much larger distribution and support organization, the sale of Oxford Diffraction to Varian brings a number of additional important advantages," said Paul Loeffen CEO of Oxford Diffraction. "We now have the opportunity to offer customers more powerful solutions through combinations of complementary information-rich techniques to include X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Furthermore, as part of Varian, we look forward to continuing the development of innovative technologies and products for our customers."

"Existing Oxford Diffraction customers will continue to benefit from the same dedicated and attentive customer support and applications team at Oxford Diffraction but with the additional resources of Varian's worldwide support organization," said David Warner, Customer Support Group Manager at Oxford Diffraction. "One of our strengths has been a tailored and personal support experience for our customers. This will not change since our customers will be dealing with the same people. The support of the Varian network will simply enhance this experience."

Source: Varian Inc.