RYE, NY, July 7, 2011 – SFW Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in mid-sized companies providing analytical tools and related services, today announced that it has purchased Spectro Inc., the leading global provider of instrumentation and software for machine condition monitoring and preventative maintenance. SFW Capital Partners purchased Spectro from QinetiQ, a London Stock Exchange listed company (LSE: QQ.L) that operates in the US as QinetiQ North America. SFW Capital Partners is joined in this investment by the senior management of Spectro.
Founded in 1981, Spectro is headquartered in Littleton, Massachusetts. The Company specializes in analytical instrumentation and software for machine condition monitoring. It is one of the largest suppliers of oil and fuel analysis instruments to industry and the military worldwide. Industry clients include petrochemical, mining, power generation companies as well as commercial testing laboratories. Spectro has an extensive product line and a leading market position in remote location applications, providing a vital analytical tool in its markets.
Spectro is SFW’s third analytical tools investment over the past 18 months. “Analytical instrumentation is essential to providing the accurate data that drives critical decisions across business functions in a wide variety of industries,” said Roger Freeman, a SFW partner. “Spectro’s management has achieved steady growth over the past five years, and today the Company is the leading provider of analytical instrumentation and tools for oil and fuel analysis and machine condition monitoring. We are very excited about the Company’s prospects.”
About SFW Capital Partners
SFW Capital Partners is a private equity firm that invests with management in mid-sized companies providing analytical tools and related services, including instruments, information and software, and outsourced analytical services. As a team, the partners of SFW have supported some of the most successful and well-regarded companies in its target markets. For more information, please visit www.sfwcap.com.
About QinetiQ North America
QinetiQ North America delivers world-class technology, responsive services and innovative solutions for global markets, focusing on U.S. government and commercial customers. Our engineers, scientists and other professionals deliver high-quality products and services that leverage detailed mission knowledge and proven, reliable tools and methodologies to meet the rapidly changing demands of national defense, homeland security and information assurance customers. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, QinetiQ North America had annual revenues of more than $1 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 20110. QinetiQ North America is part of QinetiQ Group plc (LSE:QQ.L). For more information, please visit www.QinetiQ-NA.com.
About Spectro Inc.
Spectro specializes in analytical instrumentation and software for machine condition monitoring. It is one of the largest worldwide suppliers of oil and fuel analysis instruments to industry and the military worldwide. Industry clients include petrochemical, mining, power generation companies as well as commercial testing laboratories. Spectro’s products include the SPECTROIL and Fluidscan lines of spectrometers for wear metal analysis, lubricant degradation/contamination analyzers, particle analysis instruments and complete turnkey systems for oil or fuel analysis laboratories that include all required instruments, software, installation, training and applications support. For more information, please visit www.spectroinc.com.