PAOLI, PA, -- AMETEK Inc., Paoli, PA, has acquired Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC, a leading provider of weathering test instruments and related testing and consulting services, from Industrial Growth Partners for approximately $159 million in cash.

Atlas is headquartered in Chicago with additional manufacturing operations in Germany and a network of outdoor and laboratory testing facilities around the globe. It has expected 2011 sales of approximately $85 million.

Atlas’ products include weather exposure test systems, corrosion-testing instruments, specialty lighting systems and large-scale weathering test chambers. In addition, Atlas offers indoor laboratory and outdoor testing services, photovoltaic and solar testing, and consulting. Its customers include testing laboratories and leading aerospace, paint, coating, polymer, plastic, solar/photovoltaic, pharmaceutical, LED and automotive manufacturers.

Atlas joins AMETEK as part of AMETEK Measurement & Calibration Technologies (M&CT), a division of AMETEK’s Electronic Instruments Group.

AMETEK M&CT designs, manufactures and distributes material test instruments for a wide range of applications such as tensile, hardness and force testing, instruments for high accuracy temperature, pressure and signal calibration, and a suite of sensors for pressure, level, position and temperature. AMETEK M&CT serves a global and diverse customer base. The company has manufacturing and engineering operations in the United States, Denmark and the United Kingdom, and a worldwide network of sales and service locations.

AMETEK is a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electro-mechanical devices with annualized sales of $2.5 billion.