ZEISS Acquires LENSO: Week in Brief: 01/13/23

ZEISS will expand its market presence in Poland for its Industrial Quality and Research segment by acquiring LENSO, a provider of 3D scanning and metrology solutions. LENSO will join the ZEISS Sales and Service Co. in Poland as part of ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions. ZEISS and LENSO will continue to be responsible for their respective customer services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

LENSO CEO Marek Radke (left) and Michael Hubensack, CEO of SSC Carl Zeiss Poland. Courtesy of ZEISS.

HEIDELBERG, Germany — Bruker Corp. acquired ACQUIFER Imaging GmbH, a data management company for bioimaging and high-content microscopy. The acquisition adds high-performance on-premises processing, secure storage, and networking technology that complements Bruker’s advanced fluorescence microscopy imaging products. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is Bruker’s third since November 2022.

ENSCHEDE, Netherlands — A Dutch consortium led by Invest-NL and FORWARD.one, and further consisting of Universiteit Twente Holding, Oost NL, and PhotonDelta, invested €3.5 million ($3.8 million) in LioniX International, a developer of customized microsystem solutions. The consortium sees the investment in LioniX as an illustration of its commitment to further strengthening the Dutch deep tech ecosystem and ChipTech Twente in particular.

PHOENIX — SCHOTT opened a facility in Phoenix to expand the development and manufacturing of diagnostics and life sciences consumables. The 40,000-sq-ft facility, SCHOTT said, is the first fully integrated microfluidic foundry in the U.S. The facility hosts cleanroom, high-volume manufacturing of microarrays and microfluidic devices, allowing the company to onshore critical manufacturing.

SCHOTT’s newly opened 40,000-sq-ft MINIFAB facility in Phoenix. Courtesy of SCHOTT.

NASHUA, N.H. — Resonetics, an advanced engineering, product development, prototyping, and manufacturing solutions company supporting the life sciences, will acquire Memry Corp. and SAES Smart Materials from SAES Getters SpA. The Memry business will add extensive electric discharge machining capabilities, as well as additional laser processing, centerless grinding, nitinol tubing, sheet, and wire fabrication. The SAES Smart Materials business creates the nitinol raw material from nickel and titanium raw material and converts it into various form factors. The transaction, expected to close this year, is valued at $900 million.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — IonQ acquired the operating assets of Entangled Networks, a company focused on enabling computation across multiple distributed quantum processors. As part of the transaction, the Entangled Networks team will join IonQ to launch IonQ Canada, strengthening IonQ’s already growing international presence.

LOS ANGELES — Mynaric entered into a definitive agreement with a new, undisclosed U.S.-based customer for delivery of CONDOR Mk3 optical communication terminals. The order has a value of around $24 million with payment milestones in the first and second half of 2023 and product deliveries in the second half of 2023, Mynaric said.

TORONTO — Photonic quantum computing company Xanadu partnered with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) to expand industrial use cases for quantum computers. The partnership will focus on the further development of quantum algorithms for next-generation lithium-ion batteries and optimizing quantum computing hardware. The collaboration will leverage Xanadu’s PennyLane open-source software library for quantum computing and application development.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Agilent Technolgies and spatial biology company Akoya Biosciences partnered to develop multiplex-immunohistochemistry diagnostic solutions for tissue analysis, and to commercialize workflow solutions for multiplex assays in the clinical research market. Integrating Agilent’s Dako Omnis autostaining instrument and Akoya’s PhenoImager HT imaging platform for multiplex chromogenic immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent assays will create a singular end-to-end commercial workflow, including reagents, staining, imaging, and analysis. The partners will also develop chromogenic and immunofluorescent multiplex assays that include spatial analysis for biopharma companies developing precision cancer therapeutics.

KOMAKI, Japan — Santec, a manufacturer of optical components and tunable lasers, announced that the entity formerly known as JGR Optics Inc. changed its name and is now known as santec Canada Corp. In addition, the company formerly known as Optotest Corp. is now called santec California Corp. Santec acquired both companies in November 2021. The rebranding enables santec to become a complete cable assembly and fiber optics component test and measurement solution company. There are no changes to legal entity per the rebranding.