Fluorotechnics buys into electrophoresis market
acquired ETC Elektrophorese-Technik to gain access to the company's
electrophoresis expertise and product lines.
Sydney-based Fluorotechnics has acquired all issued shares of German-based ETC Elektrophere-Technik in a stock for stock deal to gain access to its high-end electrophoresis equipment and consumables that are used in a range of diagnostic, quality control and speices identification applications. Sales of tools for proteomics experiments are on the rise as more and more researchers look to understand how the expression of proteins is linked with disease onset and progression, as such the merger makes perfect sense, bringing together the skills needed to label specific species and then separate them. The integrated company will retain its manufacturing bases in Sydney, Australia and Kirchentellinsfurt, Germany, with Hanspeter Schickle, CEO of ETC, becoming the head of product development in electrophoresis. "This acquisition will allow us to cross-sell products to existing customers and to address new markets utilizing our joint expertise," said Fluorotechnics CEO, Duncan Veal. "Our ever-expanding sales and marketing team and enormous potential for our product offering means that we are well positioned for strong growth." Fluorotechnics was founded in 2002 after being spun out of Sydney's Macquarie University to commercialise the use of a dye found in a brilliantly coloured fungi. The company's first product was a cell stain, but its product portfolio has since grown to include a range of proteomic staining products that include blot stains, protein quantification kits and stains for determining specific protein modifications. Since its inception the company has worked with industry leaders such as GE Healthcare and Sigma-Aldrich. ETC has been developing its range of instruments, gels and buffers for horizontal DNA and protein electrophoresis applications since 1990 which are used in a wide range of industries for quality control (QC), quality assurance (QA) and species determination in quarantine, research and process. "We know that our customers will welcome the extended offering and complete solution that the range of Fluorotechnics and ETC products will now provide," said Hanspeter Schickle, CEO of ETC. "The merged group possesses exceptional expertise, has a dynamic product pipeline and is set to become a leading supplier to life-scientists, globally."
