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MILFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2006--Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) announced
today it has entered into an agreement to acquire all the outstanding capital stock
of ERA, a privately held company located in Arvada, Colorado, U.S.A., for an undisclosed
amount. The transaction is expected to be complete before the end of 2006. Current
annual revenues for ERA are approximately $17 million and the acquisition is expected
to be neutral to Waters Corporation's ("the Company") earnings in 2007.
Commenting on the planned acquisition, Ian King, Vice President of Chemical Operations
at Waters said, "Environmental testing is a significant growth market for the Company
and the addition of ERA improves our access to this customer base. ERA is recognized
as a market leader in laboratory proficiency testing with highly dedicated and professional
management and talented employees. Combining the strengths of the Company's analytical
technologies with ERA's leading testing services will create new business opportunities,
especially in emerging geographies where method standardization and calibration
are increasingly in higher demand."
Dr. Carl Craig, ERA Vice President of Sales and Marketing, commented, "We're very
excited with the prospect of expanding ERA's international business while continuing
to build upon our leadership position in the U.S.A. in the environmental proficiency
testing and pharmaceutical reference materials markets."
Waters Corporation holds worldwide leading positions in three complementary analytical
technologies - liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis. These
markets account for approximately $5 billion of the overall $20 - $25 billion analytical
instrument market.
Certain statements contained herein are forward looking. Many factors could cause
actual results to differ from these statements, including delays in product introductions,
loss of market share through competition, introduction of competing products by
other companies, pressures on prices from competitors and/or customers, regulatory
obstacles to new product introductions, lack of acceptance of new products, changes
in the healthcare market and the pharmaceutical industry, changes in distribution
of the Company's products, and foreign exchange fluctuations. Such factors and others
are discussed more fully in the section entitled "Risk Factors" of the Company's
annual report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and quarterly report
on Form 10Q for the period ended September 30, 2006, as filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, which "Risk Factors" discussion is incorporated by reference
in this release.
CONTACT: Waters Corporation
Gene Cassis, 508-482-2349
Vice President of Investor Relations
SOURCE: Waters Corporation
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On July 31, 2006, ERA was accredited in the first class of A2LA NELAC proficiency
testing providers. Click to view a copy of our certificate and scope of accreditation. Prior to this latest
accreditation, ERA’s PT programs have been accredited by NIST/NVLAP as well as by
A2LA through their voluntary ILAC G-13 accreditation program.
This accreditation was the result of an onsite assessment of our quality management
system and a review of a portion of the data that we use to support our proficiency
testing programs. The next step in the process will be A2LA’s implementation of
a comprehensive oversight program that will ensure both compliance with the program
requirements as well as consistency across the program. This oversight program will
increase the uniformity in laboratory evaluations which was a major goal when EPA
privatized the program in 1999.
ERA is excited that a NELAC PT provider accreditation program has finally been implemented.
But, as accredited laboratories fully understand, simply participating in the same
accreditation program does not make all labs equal. The same is true of PT providers.
While ERA will aggressively support a rigorous oversight program to ensure that
all providers are meeting the minimum requirements of the program, we will continue
to rely on our product quality, customer support and overall value to maintain and
expand our terrific customer relationships.
Please contact Curtis Wood, Director of Quality Assurance, at 1-800-372-0122 if
you have any questions about ERA’s accreditations or this program.
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