VWR said today it has acquired Purification Technologies (PTI) for an undisclosed price, in a deal that adds to the buyer’s solvent manufacturing capabilities.
PTI is a specialty solvent company that performs high-volume purification and repackaging of selected solvents for analytical, biotechnology, and agrochemical customers internationally.
The company sells its purified solvents under the trade name PrecisionPure™. One key product, PrecisionPure™ Acetonitrile, uses a patented process to remove the most common impurities—such as nitriles, aromatics, carbonyls, heterocycles, and water—from acetonitrile. The solvent is widely used in biopharma as a mobile-phase solvent in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and process chromatography applications, as well as a wash and reagent solution solvent for oligonucleotide synthesis.
Privately held PTI was founded in 1998, and is based in Chester, CT.
Publicly traded VWR is a global, independent provider of products, services and solutions to laboratory and production facilities for customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, industrial, education, government, and healthcare industries.
VWR said the acquisition will enhance its growing laboratory and production chemical manufacturing portfolio, with the goal of better supporting its lab and biopharmaceutical manufacturing customers.
“Our customers in the chromatography, biochemical and agrochemical industries will benefit through VWR's ability to supply high purity Acetonitrile and other solvents in both bulk and lab scale quantities,” VWR President and CEO Manuel Brocke-Benz said in a statement. “PTI's solvent purification expertise and process capabilities improve access to a key solvent line, and enhance our portfolio of high purity products available to our customers.”
Headquartered in Radnor, PA, VWR employs more than 8,500 associates and reported sales in excess of $4.3 billion last year.
During the second quarter, VWR generated revenues of $1.08 billion, down $21.5 million or 1.9% from Q2 2014—a slide the company blamed on the strengthening of the U.S. dollar compared to the Euro and other major currencies. Excluding foreign exchange impact, VWR said, revenues rose $51.4 million, or 4.7%, while recent acquisitions generated an additional $22.4 million, or 2.0% during the quarter.
