Badger Meter, Inc. announced the acquisition of Analytical Technology, Inc. (“ATi”), a privately held provider of water quality monitoring systems, for $44 million, funded with available cash. Founded in 1992, with headquarters in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA, ATi specializes in the design, manufacture and distribution of water quality instruments based on electrochemical and optical sensors. In addition to water quality parameters, its technology is also used to detect toxic gasses used in water treatment and other applications.

With 2020 revenue of approximately $22 million, ATi solutions are deployed predominately in the U.S. and Europe, with the latter served from a regional office near Manchester, U.K. ATi offers modular, configurable and low-power multi-parameter water monitoring solutions that can be used in a variety of applications where periodic or continual monitoring is required.

Data can be stored locally or communicated to a central database via almost any protocol. Kenneth C. Bockhorst, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Badger Meter, stated, “The combination of solutions – including industry-leading electrochemical sensors from ATi with premier optical water quality monitoring instruments from s::can, which we acquired in November 2020 – provides Badger Meter with a fully comprehensive, robust and scalable water quality monitoring offering that delivers real-time data on demand to municipal water utilities and industrial users.”

“Through both organic investments and accretive acquisitions, our core strategy is to continue to augment our smart water offerings by seamlessly integrating advanced technologies in instrumentation – including flow measurement, temperature, pressure and water-quality parameters – thereby enhancing the scope of valuable data for use by utilities and industrial customers,” Bockhorst added.

“Leveraging our industry-leading ORION® Cellular endpoints, along with current and future communication and software technologies, we are creating robust digital solutions to operationalize real-time data into actionable insights that drive better results, optimize operations, reduce costs and create outstanding customer experiences.” Bockhorst concluded, “I look forward to working alongside the talented ATi team and welcoming them into the Badger Meter organization. By leveraging our collective expertise, we believe we can continue to build out our smart water offerings and geographic reach, helping to preserve the world’s most precious resource.”