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February 2017

LGC acquires API Food Quality, Inc

Today, LGC announced that it has acquired the business of API Food Quality, Inc., and the associated trade and assets (API Food Quality).  The acquisition bolsters LGC’s market leading portfolio of proficiency testing (PT) schemes for the food industry.  LGC will also create a new North American hub location for its global PT operations in Traverse City, Michigan.

The newly constituted American Proficiency Institute Group, comprised of API Food Quality and LGC’s existing PT business in North America, will be led by Daniel C. Edson, Co-Founder and President of the American Proficiency Institute.  In addition to his leadership responsibilities for API Group, Edson will continue to serve as President of the American Proficiency Institute, Inc.

Euan O’Sullivan, Managing Director of LGC’s Standards Division, said, “We are delighted to be adding API Food Quality to our Standards division.  It offers a highly complementary fit to our existing global PT capabilities, while creating a North American counterpart to our existing PT hub locations in Bury, England and Johannesburg, South Africa.  Our combined business will have a food and beverage PT offering of unparalleled quality and breadth, while also providing an enhanced platform to introduce other LGC PT schemes to a North American customer base.”

Daniel C. Edson, new General Manager of API Group, said, “By combining API Food Quality with LGC’s PT capabilities, we will be able to provide food industry customers with even more robust PT offerings.  We are pleased that Traverse City, Michigan will continue as a hub for this new combined operation, helping to ensure a smooth transition and expanding local jobs.”

Proficiency testing is a key element in the laboratory accreditation process, alongside reference materials, enabling laboratories to monitor the quality of their analytical results.  LGC currently provides over 1,600 PT exercises per annum, distributed to more than 11,000 participating laboratories in over 160 countries worldwide.  LGC’s PT offering is certified to ISO 9001 and accredited to ISO/IEC 17043.

API Food Quality, known for its innovative solutions and technical excellence, offered the world’s first accredited proficiency testing program for six non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) adulterants.  Among the largest proficiency testing providers globally, it serves over 1,000 food laboratories in 30 countries.

LGC was advised by Galante BioMedical, LLC.