Elektron plc announced it acquired Sifam Instruments Ltd. for an initial cash payment of £2 million (about $4 million), effective Aug. 8. Essex-based Elektron makes electrical, electromechanical and hard metal components. Sifam of Torquay, England, manufactures analog and digital meters as well as rotary control knobs under the Sifam brand. It has 170 employees and its 2006 sales totalled £8.4 million ($16.8 million).Queensgate Instruments Ltd., a Sifam subsidiary and Imperial College London spinoff, manufactures nanoscale sensors and positioning actuators and electrical and electronic measuring instruments for applications including microscopy, interferometry, semiconductor test equipment, material testing and molecular biology. Sifam subsidiary Digitron Instrumentation Ltd. makes temperature, pressure, relative humidity and data logging instruments.Both businesses, collocated in Sifam's 68,000-sq-ft facility in Torquay, will now operate as wholly owned subsidiaries of Elektron, Sifam said. Elektron said the initial purchase price may change depending on the value of Sifam's assets and/or yearly profits on Nov. 30. The company said it didn't expect the acquisition to materially affect its earnings for 2007."Sifam brings technologies and know-how that will help move Elektron further away from dependence on low-cost commodity components. We look forward to exploiting the product and market synergies with our existing businesses for the benefit of all stakeholders," said Adrian Girling, CEO of Elektron, in a statement. For more information, visit: www.elektronplc.com