Ametek Acquires Taylor Hobson

PAOLI, PA- Ametek Inc. has acquired Taylor Hobson Holdings Ltd., a manufacturer of ultra-precision measurement instrumentation for a variety of markets, including optics, semiconductors, hard disk drives and nanotechnology research.

"We are very excited about our acquisition of Taylor Hobson," says Ametek Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank S. Hermance. "This is a highly differentiated business, focusing on the most complex and critical measurements for its customers. Taylor Hobson significantly expands our measurement capabilities into ultra-precision applications and is an excellent fit with our strategic focus on adding more high-end analytical instrument businesses. With this acquisition, our high-end analytical businesses now total more than $250 million in annual revenue.

"Taylor Hobson's instrumentation is able to measure the shape and finish of surfaces to the sub-nanometer level. This measurement capability is a critical enabling technology to support product development, manufacturing process engineering and quality control. As product geometries continue to shrink, Taylor Hobson's instrumentation becomes even more important," adds Hermance.

Taylor Hobson designs, manufactures and services a broad array of contact and noncontact instrumentation for ultra-precise measurement applications. These instruments measure surface texture, shape and roundness, dimensions that are critical in many industries including optics, semiconductor, hard disk drive, automotive and bearing manufacturing. Nanotechnology is becoming an increasingly important market for Taylor Hobson's technology and represents AMETEK's first entry into this area.

Taylor Hobson joins AMETEK as part of its Electronic Instruments Group.