Thermo Electron sells test and measurement business

Waltham, MA October 27, 2003 Thermo Electron Corporation says it has sold its test and measurement business to the Ling Dynamic Systems (LDS) business of SPX Corporation for an undisclosed cash amount.

The Thermo business, formerly part of the company’s measurement and control sector, had approximately US$25 million in revenues in 2002, according to the company.

The test and measurement business consists of high-performance data acquisition systems used in research, process maintenance, and physiological applications to measure various physical parameters such as stress, vibration, and temperature, sold under the Nicolet and Gould brands.

The sale included US operations in Wisconsin and Ohio, and European facilities in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. The Nicolet line of spectroscopy systems, included in Thermo’s life and laboratory sciences sector, was not part of the sale.

"We constantly evaluate our businesses to determine whether they fit our long-term strategy for growth," says Marijn E Dekkers, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Electron. "We believe this test and measurement business did not represent a strategic growth platform for Thermo and is, in fact, a much better fit with LDS’s systems-analysis business."