Thermo Electron's Informatics Division Acquires Galactic Industries

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Electron Corporation (NYSE: TMO - news) announced that its Thermo LabSystems business, which is part of the company's Informatics division, has acquired substantially all the assets of Galactic Industries Corporation for an undisclosed amount. Based in Salem, New Hampshire, Galactic is a supplier of software that can gather, integrate, and store data from virtually any chromatography or spectroscopy instrument in any laboratory setting. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001030/TMOLOGO)

Galactic's software products are used worldwide in the pharmaceutical, chemical, academic, food, and consumer products industries to help researchers manage data, both historical and current. The company will adopt Thermo Electron's new branding strategy to become ``Thermo Galactic,'' with a focus on combining its successful software solutions with Thermo LabSystems' industry- leading laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and informatics capabilities. Galactic will also continue to develop and supply desktop software products to its OEM and end-user customers.

“There is increasing demand in scientific organizations for software that helps researchers sort through and manage massive amounts of data,” said Colin Maddix, president of Thermo Electron's Life Sciences sector, which includes the Informatics division. “In addition, the knowledge gleaned from the data typically needs to be distributed throughout an organization, following strict regulatory and patent protocols. Galactic's expertise in handling data from a wide range of analytical instruments, coupled with Thermo LabSystems' expertise in developing large-scale laboratory informatics systems, will allow us to offer a complete information management solution.”

Mr. Maddix continued, “The first example of this collaboration, our new eRecordManager(TM) system, will be featured at Pittcon next week. This system offers full application support for compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Ruling 21 CFR, Part 11, which governs requirements for electronic record keeping.”

Thermo Electron Corporation is a global leader in providing technology- based instruments, components, and systems that offer total solutions for markets ranging from life sciences to telecommunications to food, drug, and beverage production. The company's powerful technologies help researchers sift through data to make discoveries that will fight disease or prolong life. They allow manufacturers to fabricate ever-smaller components required to increase the speed and quality of communications. And they automatically monitor and control online production to ensure that critical quality standards are met safely and efficiently. In 2000, Thermo Electron's instrument businesses, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, reported $2.3 billion in revenues and employed approximately 13,000 people worldwide. For more information on Thermo Electron, visit http://www.thermo.com.

The following constitutes a ``Safe Harbor'' statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward- looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are set forth under the heading ``Risk Factors'' in the company's Amendment No. 2 to Registration Statement on Form S-4 [Reg. No. 333-35478] filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27, 2000. These include risks and uncertainties relating to: integration of the instrument businesses; internal growth; the need to develop new products and adapt to significant technological change and changes in governmental regulations; dependence of demand on capital spending; the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the company's significant international operations; government funding policies; liquidity and prospective performance of the subsidiaries to be spun off, guarantees of obligations of the subsidiaries to be spun off, stock price volatility, and goodwill acquired by the company.

SOURCE: Thermo Electron Corporation