Purchase: Ametek buys California Instruments Corp., broadens power business

Paoli, PA – Ametek Inc. has acquired California Instruments Corp. Based in San Diego, California Instruments, a privately held company, posts annual sales of approximately $22 million, and deals in programmable alternating current (ac) power sources used to test electrical and electronic products.

By Control Engineering Staff January 7, 2008

Paoli, PA – Ametek Inc . has acquired California Instruments Corp. Based in San Diego, California Instruments, a privately held company, posts annual sales of approximately $22 million, and deals in programmable alternating current (ac) power sources used to test electrical and electronic products.

“California Instruments is a leader in the niche market for programmable ac power sources with an especially strong position in the high-power segment of the market and a solid roster of long-standing blue-chip customers,” said Frank S. Hermance, Ametek chairman and CEO. “This acquisition broadens the scope of our Power Instruments business, which produces power quality monitoring and metering instrumentation, and further expands our presence in the attractive electronic test and measurement equipment market.”

Programmable ac power sources are used to test electrical and electronics products by simulating various input voltages, frequencies, and potentially harmful line transients. These products are used in design verification testing, manufacturing, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance by customers in the computer, consumer electronics, industrial controls, and aerospace and defense industries.

California Instruments joins Ametek as part of the Electronic Instruments Group (EIG), which serves the process and analytical, aerospace, power, and industrial markets worldwide and had 2006 sales of more than $1 billion. Ametek, a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices, reports annual sales of $2 billion.

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