Whatman
of Maidstone, maker of laboratory filtration products and separation technologies.
1974 Reeve Angel International merged with W. and R. Balston; the name Whatman was included in the new title Whatman Reeve Angel Ltd.[1]
1981 Sold Whatman Biochemical to the UK subsidiary of Genzyme[2]
The company concentrated on filtration products.
1990 Whatman Reeve Angel restructured its operations and renamed itself Whatman Plc.
As well as the industrial filtration business, Whatman had interests in newer technologies. The company began making a series of acquisitions including the 1993 purchase of Cyclopore, a filter membrane specialist, and in 1997 Polyfiltronics, and Fitzco, a company that had patented a process for storing DNA on paper.
After two years of development, the company found a way of separating the stored DNA from the paper. Acquired DNA filtration specialist Cambridge Molecular Technologies.
2000. Sold off its industrial filtration business to Parker Hannifin
2001 Acquired HemaSure of Massachusetts, and the DNA Apparatus Product Line from Invitrogen Corporation.
The company focussed on DNA extraction, purification and storage, and set up a new division, Filtration and Separations Technology, which was to focus on such biotechnology areas.
2004 Acquired Schleicher and Schuell of Germany, making Whatman the world's 3rd largest laboratory supplies company[3]
2008 Acquired by GE Healthcare
2013 The Springfield Mill, site of the original Whatman plant, was closed and production transferred elsewhere in the GE Healthcare group.
2020 GE Healthcare Bioscience was sold to Danaher Coporation and was renamed Cytiva Bioscience[4].
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Company Histories