Agilent Technologies Acquires J&W Scientific; Acquisition Makes Agilent the World's Largest Supplier of Gas Chromatography Instruments, Solutions, Columns and Consumables - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, April 3, 2000

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Wednesday announced that it has signed a merger agreement with J&W Scientific, the world's largest manufacturer and supplier of capillary gas chromatography (GC) columns. Located in Folsom, Calif., J&W develops and markets a wide range of GC columns and consumables, such as flowmeters, syringes and gas purifiers. The acquisition will greatly expand Agilent's current range of solutions it brings to the chemical, petrochemical, hydrocarbon processing and environmental industries. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"From a modest beginning in a Sacramento garage, J&W Scientific has continually set the industry standard, developing proprietary manufacturing techniques which, when combined with other advances, have made us the world's largest supplier of GC capillary columns and related products," said Walt Jennings, co-founder of J&W Scientific. "We are especially pleased to become part of the world's largest supplier of gas chromatography instrumentation."

"The acquisition of J&W Scientific will offer GC customers the highest level of expertise and technical support and the broadest range of instruments and supplies from a single source," said Jeff White, general manager of Agilent's CAG Consumables and Accessories Business Unit. "This will enable us to quickly and efficiently solve customers' GC problems. Agilent recognizes J&W's long tradition of outstanding customer service, and Agilent is committed to its continuation."

Since 1978, J&W has been at the forefront of gas phase separation science, maintaining a strong commitment to research and development, rigorous manufacturing standards and exhaustive product testing. J&W was the first to develop a technique to permanently bond chemical coatings to the glass column in a process known as Durabond.

In addition to its wide range of GC columns, J&W also manufactures capillary electrophoresis (CE) and solid phase extraction (SPE) products, as well as Humonics flowmeters, Unimetrics syringes, and R&D separations gas purifiers.

Information about Agilent's chemical analysis products and services can be found on the Web at www.agilent.com/chem.> Founded in 1975, J&W Scientific has become the industry standard in GC capillary columns, developing proprietary manufacturing techniques which, when combined with other advances, have made them the world's largest supplier of gas chromatography capillary columns and related products.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a diversified technology company, resulting from Hewlett-Packard Company's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. With 42,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent Technologies is a global leader in designing and manufacturing test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components. The company serves markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. The businesses comprising Agilent, a subsidiary of HP, had net revenues of more than $8.3 billion in fiscal year 1999. FMI: www.agilent.com.