The management team of WITec GmbH is proud to announce that WITec was acquired by Oxford Instruments plc, a UK based company that has a great reputation in the scientific community, and in the future will be part of their Materials Analysis Group. WITec’s founders Dr. Joachim Koenen and Dr. Olaf Hollricher will continue as Managing Directors and the well-established WITec brand will be retained in the new organizational structure.
The companies’ representatives following the official announcement at WITec Headquarters in Ulm, Germany. From left to right: Joachim Koenen (Managing Director at WITec), Alexandra Lipes (HR Generalist at Oxford Instruments), Dirk Keune (Managing Director Germany and Director Sales EMEAI at Oxford Instruments) and Olaf Hollricher (Managing Director at WITec). Image Credit: Oxford Instruments plc
Founded in 1997, WITec grew from a small university spin-off into the most innovative Raman imaging company. It made exceptional progress in developing microscopy technology and installed more than a thousand Raman, AFM and SNOM systems worldwide.
“We look back on a 24-year track record of making WITec a prosperous and most innovative Raman imaging company. Now that we are joining the Oxford Instruments Group, we look forward to continuing this success together with a strong partner to grow even faster and to use existing synergies to further expand our reach into the range of markets that will benefit from our wide product portfolio,” Koenen said.
“WITec developed ground-breaking solutions in confocal Raman microscopy and correlative Raman microscopy. Oxford Instruments’ key technologies in AFM and scientific spectroscopic cameras with the brands Asylum and Andor puts WITec in an even better position for future developments,” Hollricher added.
Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive, Oxford Instruments said, “We are delighted to welcome WITec colleagues to Oxford Instruments. WITec’s leading Raman microscopy solutions are a great complement to our existing products and techniques. Raman microscopy is an important and widely used technique across academic and commercial customers for fundamental research, applied R&D and QA/QC. The technique is used in conjunction with and alongside our existing characterization solutions and broadens the capabilities that we can bring to existing customers and expands opportunities into new market areas. Providing a broader range of solutions helps us support our customers in facilitating a greener economy, increasing connectivity, improving health and achieving leaps in scientific understanding.”
Ian Wilcock, Managing Director of Oxford Instruments Nanoanalysis and Magnetic Resonance added, “We look forward to working with our new colleagues at WITec to develop new routes to market for their products. WITec’s RISE Raman for SEM product, for example, will ideally complement our own extensive suite of analyzers for electron microscopes.”
WITec will, of course, fulfill its obligations toward existing customers and business partners in the usual manner and the management team will work to make the transition as smooth as possible.