Rigaku to Acquire Agilent’s X-Ray Diffraction Business

Rigaku Corporation and Agilent Technologies have entered into an agreement for Rigaku to acquire Agilent’s X-ray diffraction (XRD) business.

The Agilent XRD group manufactures single-crystal X-ray instruments for the global chemical crystallography market. The group, formerly known as Oxford Diffraction, became part of Agilent in 2010 through Agilent’s acquisition of Varian.

Rigaku plans to combine XRD with its existing crystallography business to form a new business unit. XRD products will continue to be developed and produced at existing factories in Poland and Japan.

“The acquisition of Agilent’s X-ray crystallography business represents a significant step in the expansion of our single-crystal X-ray business,” said Hikaru Shimura, Rigaku’s president and CEO. “By combining Agilent’s XRD business with Rigaku’s expertise in protein crystallography, we will be able to leverage the best technologies from both groups to provide our current and future customers with world-class solutions for single-crystal analysis.”

The transaction is expected to be final May 1, 2015, subject to local laws and customary closing conditions.