ALMELO, The Netherlands - Spectris plc (Spectris), an instrumentation and controls company based in Egham, England, has signed an agreement to acquire Analytical Spectral Devices Inc. (ASD), a manufacturer of near-infrared instrumentation solutions and applications for materials measurement and research. Spectris expects the acquisition to be completed before the end of the year.

The acquisition of ASD is in line with Spectris’ strategy to strengthen its businesses via acquisition of complementary businesses. ASD will become part of the Materials Analysis segment and will be integrated with PANalytical.

ASD, based in Boulder, CO, employs around 50 people. PANalytical is a leading supplier of instrumentation and services for X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.