Endress+Hauser acquires particle analysis specialist

Endress+Hauser has announced it has acquired SOPAT, a Germany-based specialist in inline process measurement technology, retaining the company’s staff in Berlin and Chemnitz. The company says the acquisition further expands its range of measurement instruments, solutions and services for process analysis. SOPAT and its subsidiary Parsum now come under Endress+Hauser’s liquid analysis product centre, based in Gerlingen, Germany.

“The particle characterisation systems developed by SOPAT complement our existing portfolio by adding a range that is strategically important in terms of our core target industries,” said Endress+Hauser Liquid Analysis Managing Director Dr Thomas Buer.

SOPAT GmbH was founded in Berlin in 2012 by Jörn Emmerich and Dr Sebastian Maaß. In 2022, it acquired Parsum in Chemnitz, Germany, a maker of inline particle size analysis systems that was founded in 1997.

SOPAT’s smart systems use a photo-optical image-based inline technology to analyse particles, droplets and bubbles in running processes in real time. The technology measures particle sizes and shapes without sampling or dilution, thereby enabling precision process monitoring, faster response times and enhanced product quality. Parsum probes, on the other hand, use a laser beam in combination with fibre-optic spatial filtering to analyse particle size and particle speed distributions, particularly for solids, powders and granulates.

Users in multiple industries, including life sciences, food and beverage, and mining, minerals and metals, use particle counting and analysis to ensure product quality.

“This step is a continuation of our strategy and strengthens our analysis portfolio. We can now provide even better support for our customers across the board, from laboratory to production process,” Buer said.

“Our strength lies in our combination of scientific precision and industrial practicability. As part of the Endress+Hauser Group, we can progress innovations through to broad-based industrial use more rapidly and hence contribute to more stable and resource-efficient processes worldwide,” Emmerich said.

Endress+Hauser acquired SOPAT effective 1 January 2026. Both parties have agreed to keep the details of the sale confidential. SOPAT’s co-founders Emmerich and Maaß will stay on as members of the innovative company’s management team.

Image: Supplied