Leica Microsystems
| Type | Subsidiary GmbH |
|---|---|
| Industry | Industrial manufacturing |
| Founded | Germany (1997) |
| Headquarters | Wetzlar, Germany |
Key people | Dr. Annette Rinck (President), Melanie Hammerschmid-Browman (CFO), Fedja Bobanovic (CTO) |
| Products | Microscopes |
| Revenue | ~$1 billion (2008) |
| Parent | Danaher |
| Website | www |
Leica Microsystems GmbH is a German microscope manufacturing company. It is a manufacturer of optical microscopes, equipment for the preparation of microscopic specimens and related products. There are ten plants in eight countries with distribution partners in over 100 countries. Leica Microsystems emerged in 1997 out of a 1990 merger between Wild-Leitz, headquartered in Heerbrugg Switzerland, and Cambridge Instruments of Cambridge England. The merger of those two umbrella companies created an alliance of the following 8 individual manufacturers of scientific instruments. American Optical Scientific Products, Carl Reichert Optische Werke AG, R.Jung, Bausch and Lomb Optical Scientific Products Division, Cambridge Instruments, E.Leitz Wetzlar, Kern & Co., and Wild Heerbrugg AG, bringing much-needed modernization and a broader degree of expertise to the newly created entity called Leica Holding B.V. group. In 1997 the name was changed to Leica Microsystems and is a wholly-owned entity of Danaher Corporation since July 2005. Danaher is a US venture capital company.