VICAM–Waters: investment, 200603 acquisition €na food safety technology business + associated net assets

	Period	2006-03-01
	Money taker	VICAM
	Today	VICAM (a Waters Business)
	Group	Waters (Group)
	Money source	Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT)
	Group	Waters (Group)
	Product	food analysis (food testing)

Waters Corporation. (3/1/06). "Press Release: Waters Corporation Acquires VICAM. Firm’s Products Play Key Role in the Growing Worldwide Food Safety Market". Milford, MA.

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT ) today announced it has purchased the food safety technology business and associated net assets of VICAM (Watertown, MA) for undisclosed terms.

VICAM® single-use food safety test kits are designed to test for the presence of mycotoxin and microbiological organisms in a wide variety of food products. For regulatory-compliant analysis of mycotoxins, VICAM immunoaffinity columns isolate the contaminants to be measured in the laboratory by sensitive methods of analysis including fluorometer measurement, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or newer, more sensitive techniques such as Ultra Performance LC™ (UPLC™) and mass spectrometry (MS).

Consumer demand for contaminant-free supplies of foods are driving regulations to become more stringent and more numerous. According to the Annual Report of the European Commissions' Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), the largest number (44%) of Information Notifications by identified risk in 2004, was for mycotoxin contamination in food imported to, or grown within, the EU. Mycotoxins, among the most carcinogenic compounds known to science, are produced naturally by soil fungi or molds that typically release toxins that contaminate plants stressed by drought or that contaminate improperly-stored grain/feed. VICAM's proprietary products employ monoclonal antibodies that are highly-specific for certain mycotoxins in a sample which makes their identification and concentration measurement simple, fast and accurate.

"What initially attracted Waters to VICAM was its leadership position in this important segment of the food testing business, coupled with its strong customer commitment and their focus upon creating relationships with relevant regulatory agencies," said Dr. Mark Baynham, Director - Chemistry and Consumables Marketing, Waters Corporation. "The close regulatory relationships cultivated by VICAM and their specialized distributors allow them to anticipate their customers' current and future needs in a demanding and growing regulatory environment."

"VICAM is extremely pleased to be aligned with a company that will help it extend its technology platform across many more market opportunities," said Marjorie Radlo, Executive Vice President, VICAM. "With our already strong market presence in the food safety arena, VICAM's proprietary products linked to Waters leading separations and detection capability will enable food technologists to further meet the demands of new regulations leading to a safer food supply."

About Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation holds worldwide leading positions in three complementary analytical technologies: liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis. These market segments account for $4.5 - $5.0 billion of the overall $20+ billion analytical instrumentation market.

About VICAM (www.vicam.com)

VICAM, headquartered in Watertown, MA, is a 20-year old, privately-held, global company founded by agribusiness executives and scientists from Boston University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company's single-use test kits, instrumentation and ancillary equipment are used by grower, processor, regulatory, and food company laboratories for regulatory compliance testing of foods and beverages such as peanuts, coffee, corn, grain/feed, milk, pet food, spices, beer, wine/grape juice among others.

Waters, Ultra Performance LC, and UPLC are trademarks of Waters Corporation. VICAM is a trademark of VICAM.

Certain statements contained herein are forward looking. Many factors could cause actual results to differ from these statements, including delays in product introductions, loss of market share through competition, introduction of competing products by other companies, pressures on prices from competitors and/or customers, regulatory obstacles to new product introductions, lack of acceptance of new products, changes in the healthcare market and the pharmaceutical industry, changes in distribution of the Company's products, and foreign exchange fluctuations. Such factors are discussed in detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and, in particular, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004.

Investor Contact:
Gene Cassis
Vice President, Investor Relations
508-482-2349

Media Contact:
Brian J. Murphy
Manager, Corporation Communications
508-482-2614

Record changed: 2011-11-25

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VICAM–Waters: investment, 200603 acquisition €na food safety technology business + associated net assets

Waters Corporation. (3/1/06). "Press Release: Waters Corporation Acquires VICAM. Firm’s Products Play Key Role in the Growing Worldwide Food Safety Market". Milford, MA.

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