Global Reference Materials Supplier Agrees Acquisition of US Firm

LGC Standards, a global supplier of reference materials, is pleased to announce that it has agreed the acquisition of US-based Analytical Reference Materials International (ARMI), a high quality and well-respected supplier of industrial Certified Reference Materials (CRMs). LGC Standards and ARMI both supply industrial reference materials and have been working together on joint activities such as conferences for several years. Founded in 1984 and based in Colorado in the US, ARMI produces and distributes reference materials into markets worldwide. ARMI also distributes LGC Standards’ reference materials in the North American market and has an exclusive agreement to distribute products on behalf of Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA).

ARMI also runs proficiency testing (PT) schemes in the US, which will complement LGC Standards’ existing and fast growing PT business. Each company has been expanding internationally in recent years and LGC Standards expects to continue this strategy strongly over the coming years, including in the BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India and China) regions, where the industrial sector is seeing high levels of growth. LGC Standards supplies over 100,000 products, including reference materials, pharmaceutical impurity reference standards, biological standards and reagents, as well as supplying proficiency testing services. Both LGC Standards and ARMI are noted for their customer service, using their in-depth knowledge of products from a wide range of quality suppliers to identify the most appropriate material for their customers.

David Richardson, Managing Director of LGC Standards, commented: “LGC Standards and Analytical Reference Materials International (ARMI) are a superb complementary fit. For LGC Standards, this latest acquisition builds on our strategy to build up our US base and will also significantly strengthen our ability to meet the growing demand for industrial reference materials from developing countries. We welcome ARMI’s William Britt, Paul Dalager and their team into the LGC Standards business and we very much look forward to working with them.”