PerkinElmer
A scientific-technology brand whose businesses have spanned precision optics, analytical instruments, diagnostics, life-science tools, and testing services.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
PerkinElmer, historically styled Perkin-Elmer, is an American scientific-technology brand founded in 1937 by Richard Perkin and Charles Elmer. The company began as a precision-optics partnership and developed early expertise in optical systems, spectroscopy, imaging, aerospace instrumentation, and defense applications. During the Second World War and the Cold War, it supplied optical equipment for military reconnaissance, range finding, navigation, and space programs. Its technology was also used in astronomy and lunar exploration, including optical systems associated with NASA missions. The company later expanded well beyond optics. Its analytical-instruments activities grew to include ultraviolet, visible, infrared, atomic-absorption, Raman, and other forms of spectroscopy, as well as chromatography and laboratory software. Perkin-Elmer also entered semiconductor manufacturing equipment, where its Micralign projection aligner became an influential photolithography system. A computer-systems division created through the acquisition of Interdata gave the group a presence in 32-bit computing and Unix-compatible systems, although that business was subsequently separated and sold. PerkinElmer’s corporate identity changed substantially through mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. In 1999, EG&G acquired Perkin-Elmer’s analytical-instruments division and adopted the PerkinElmer name. The former life-sciences operations became PE Corporation, incorporating businesses such as PE Biosystems and Celera Genomics. This transaction effectively divided the company’s historical activities between an analytical-instrument company using the PerkinElmer name and a separate life-sciences corporation. In the 2000s and 2010s, PerkinElmer concentrated increasingly on health sciences, diagnostics, research tools, food analysis, environmental testing, and laboratory informatics. Acquisitions added capabilities in genomics, laboratory automation, prenatal and newborn screening, drug-discovery assays, imaging, food testing, immunodiagnostics, infectious-disease testing, and high-throughput research. The company operated internationally and reported activities in numerous end markets, including clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical research, academic science, food production, environmental monitoring, and industrial quality control. The company’s structure changed again in 2022. The applied, food, and enterprise-services businesses were sold to New Mountain Capital for approximately $2.45 billion and continued to use the PerkinElmer name as a private company. The publicly traded life-sciences and diagnostics business was separated and later renamed Revvity in 2023. Consequently, PerkinElmer no longer represents the same public corporation associated with the PKI ticker, although the PerkinElmer brand remains active in applied testing and related services. Its present identity is therefore best understood as the private successor to the applied and testing portion of the former PerkinElmer group, while Revvity represents the separated public life-sciences and diagnostics business.
History
PerkinElmer was established in New York in 1937 when Richard Perkin and Charles Elmer combined their interests in astronomy and precision optics. Perkin raised capital from relatives and Elmer contributed additional funds, allowing the partners to establish a small office and then a production facility in New Jersey. The company was incorporated in 1939 and moved through several Connecticut locations before settling for many years in Norwalk. World War II transformed the young company into an important optical supplier. It produced equipment for range finding, bombsights, reconnaissance, and other military applications, receiving a U.S. Navy excellence award in 1942. Its military and aerospace work continued after the war. The company supplied optical systems for reconnaissance aircraft, high-altitude platforms, and satellites, and participated in major American space and astronomy programs. Its contributions included work related to the Skylab program, ultraviolet astronomy, imaging of reconnaissance-film imagery, and lunar retroreflectors associated with Apollo 11. During the 1950s and 1960s, Perkin-Elmer expanded its commercial and scientific instrumentation. Its laboratories developed infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectrometers, gas chromatographs, atomic-absorption instruments, Raman systems, and related optical and electronic equipment. The business became a major supplier to research, industrial, and government laboratories. In 1960 its shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Richard Perkin remained a central figure until he retired from executive leadership in 1961 and died in 1969. The company also became a significant participant in semiconductor manufacturing. In response to a U.S. Air Force requirement, Perkin-Elmer developed projection-based photolithography equipment that avoided direct contact between a semiconductor mask and wafer. The Micralign system, developed using advanced optical design and mirror-based projection concepts, substantially improved manufacturing yields and helped establish Perkin-Elmer as a leading supplier of chip-fabrication equipment. The company was slower to respond to stepper technology, however, and eventually sold the semiconductor-equipment division. Perkin-Elmer entered computing through the acquisition of Interdata in the 1970s and later acquired Wangco, a tape-drive manufacturer. Its computer division produced 32-bit systems and supported Unix-related software. Although the unit generated substantial sales, it was separated as Concurrent Computer Corporation in the 1980s, and the parent company ultimately exited the computer market. The modern corporate form emerged from a 1999 transaction in which EG&G bought Perkin-Elmer’s analytical-instruments division and adopted the PerkinElmer name. The former Perkin-Elmer life-sciences division became PE Corporation, whose businesses included PE Biosystems and Celera Genomics. This was the first major split that divided the historical company’s analytical and life-sciences identities. After 1999, PerkinElmer rebuilt a broad health-sciences portfolio. It acquired or developed businesses in laboratory automation, genomics, imaging, informatics, prenatal screening, newborn screening, drug discovery, immunodiagnostics, food analysis, and infectious-disease testing. Notable transactions included Packard Bioscience, ViaCell, PerkinElmer Genetics, CambridgeSoft, Caliper Life Sciences, Perten Instruments, Vanadis Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics, Euroimmun, Cisbio Bioassays, Horizon Discovery, and Oxford Immunotec. The company also divested businesses when they no longer fit its strategic focus, including Fluid Sciences and semiconductor-related operations. A second major separation occurred in 2022. New Mountain Capital purchased the applied, food, and enterprise-services operations for approximately $2.45 billion. Those operations became a private business continuing under the PerkinElmer name. The remaining public life-sciences and diagnostics company later adopted the name Revvity in 2023. This separation means that references to PerkinElmer before 2022 cover a substantially larger corporate group than the private PerkinElmer business operating afterward.
- 2023
Public life-sciences business renamed Revvity
[1]The separated public life-sciences and diagnostics company adopts the Revvity name.
- 2022
Applied businesses sold to New Mountain Capital
[1]The applied, food, and enterprise-services operations are sold and continue as a private PerkinElmer business.
- 2017
Euroimmun acquired
[1]PerkinElmer adds a major immunodiagnostics business.
- 2011
Caliper Life Sciences acquired
[1]The acquisition expands life-science research and laboratory-workflow capabilities.
- 1999
EG&G transaction creates modern PerkinElmer
[1]EG&G acquires the analytical-instruments division and uses the PerkinElmer name; the former life-sciences activities become PE Corporation.
- 1985
Computer division spun off
[1]The computer business is separated as Concurrent Computer Corporation.
- 1973
Interdata acquired
[1]The company enters computer manufacturing through the acquisition of Interdata.
- 1967
Semiconductor photolithography development
[1]Perkin-Elmer develops projection systems for semiconductor mask alignment, leading to the Micralign product family.
- 1960
New York Stock Exchange listing
[1]Perkin-Elmer’s shares begin trading on the NYSE.
- 1955
Transverse panoramic camera developed
[1]The company develops a wide-format reconnaissance camera capable of horizon-to-horizon imagery from high altitude.
Products and positioning
A specialist, high-technology provider serving laboratories, clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, food testing, environmental analysis, and industrial quality control. Its historical positioning combined precision optics with measurement, detection, imaging, automation, and scientific software.
Semiconductor manufacturing equipment · 1967
Micralign
Micralign was a projection photolithography system for semiconductor fabrication. Unlike contact printing, it projected a mask pattern onto a wafer without pressing the mask directly against the wafer surface. Its optical design helped improve manufacturing yield and made Perkin-Elmer a major semiconductor-equipment supplier during the early development of integrated-circuit production.
Laboratory analytical instruments
Analytical spectroscopy systems
PerkinElmer developed and supplied instruments for infrared, ultraviolet, visible, atomic-absorption, and Raman spectroscopy. These systems enabled laboratories to identify, quantify, and characterize chemical and biological materials across research, industrial, environmental, and quality-control applications.
Laboratory analytical instruments
Chromatography instruments
The company’s chromatography portfolio supported separation and analysis of chemical compounds in pharmaceutical, food, environmental, and industrial laboratories. The broader analytical-instruments business formed one of the principal foundations of the PerkinElmer name after the 1999 EG&G transaction.
Life-science research equipment
Laboratory automation
PerkinElmer’s laboratory-automation activities included liquid-handling robots, screening systems, and workflow tools for high-throughput research. These capabilities were especially relevant to genomics, drug discovery, sample preparation, and large-scale laboratory testing.
Diagnostics
Genetic, prenatal, and newborn screening
Through laboratory acquisitions and diagnostic technologies, PerkinElmer participated in prenatal screening, newborn screening, and genetic testing. Its screening activities addressed inherited metabolic disorders and other conditions detected through clinical laboratory testing.
Food and industrial testing
Food and quality-testing instruments
Food-testing activities included analytical instruments and related solutions for measuring composition, quality, and safety. The food and applied-testing operations were among the businesses transferred to New Mountain Capital in 2022.
Brand decisions
2023
Rename the public life-sciences and diagnostics company RevvityStrategyBackground
After the 2022 separation, the public company required a new identity distinct from the PerkinElmer business retained by New Mountain Capital.
Action taken
The remaining public life-sciences and diagnostics business adopted the Revvity name.
Aftermath
PerkinElmer became associated primarily with the private applied, food, and enterprise-services successor, while Revvity carried forward the separated public life-sciences portfolio.
2022
Separate the applied and testing businessesM&ABackground
The former PerkinElmer group reorganized its portfolio around a separation of applied, food, enterprise-services, life-sciences, and diagnostics activities.
Action taken
The applied, food, and enterprise-services operations were sold to New Mountain Capital and continued under the PerkinElmer name.
Aftermath
The sold operations became private, while the remaining public life-sciences and diagnostics business later adopted the Revvity name.
Transaction value. $2.45 billion (2022)
2006
Divest Fluid SciencesStrategyBackground
PerkinElmer aimed to concentrate resources on higher-growth health-sciences and photonics activities.
Action taken
The company sold its Fluid Sciences division.
Aftermath
The divestiture reduced portfolio breadth and reinforced the company’s focus on health sciences, photonics, and related technologies.
Sale value. Approximately $400 million (2006)
1999
Adopt the PerkinElmer name after the EG&G transactionM&ABackground
EG&G sought the analytical-instruments activities of Perkin-Elmer while the existing life-sciences division followed a separate corporate path.
Action taken
EG&G acquired the analytical-instruments division, assumed the PerkinElmer identity, and placed the former life-sciences operations in PE Corporation.
Aftermath
The transaction created the modern analytical-instrument and life-science brand structure and made the PerkinElmer name central to the acquired analytical business.
Purchase price. $425 million (1999 transaction)
Recent events
- 2023
Life-sciences and diagnostics business is renamed Revvity[1]
Leadership change
The public company separated from the PerkinElmer brand announced Revvity as its new corporate name.
- 2022
PerkinElmer sells applied, food, and enterprise-services businesses[1]
M&A
New Mountain Capital acquired the businesses for approximately $2.45 billion, taking them private while retaining the PerkinElmer name.
- 2021
PerkinElmer completes Oxford Immunotec acquisition[1]
M&A
The acquisition strengthened the company’s infectious-disease and immune-response testing activities.
- 2020
PerkinElmer agrees to acquire Horizon Discovery Group[1]
M&A
The proposed acquisition added gene-editing and functional-genomics capabilities to the company’s research-tools portfolio.
- 2017
PerkinElmer acquires Euroimmun[1]
M&A
The transaction broadened the company’s medical-laboratory diagnostics portfolio, particularly in immunodiagnostics.
- 2011
PerkinElmer acquires Caliper Life Sciences[1]
M&A
The acquisition expanded PerkinElmer’s life-sciences technology and laboratory-workflow capabilities.
- 1999
EG&G acquires Perkin-Elmer’s analytical-instruments division[1]
M&A
EG&G purchased the analytical-instruments business and adopted the PerkinElmer name, while the former life-sciences activities became PE Corporation.
- 1985
Perkin-Elmer sells its computer division into a separate business[1]
Other
The computer-systems operation was spun off as Concurrent Computer Corporation, part of the group’s exit from general-purpose computing.
- 1942
Perkin-Elmer receives an early U.S. Navy excellence award[1]
Other
The company was recognized for wartime optical production, reflecting its growing role in military precision optics.
Sources13 sources
- 1PerkinElmeren.wikipedia.org
- 2PerkinElmer official websiteperkinelmer.com
- 3珀金埃尔默携全球首发新品亮相2020慕尼黑上海分析生化展prnasia.com
- 4珀金埃尔默与13家实验室达成战略合作协议 推动生命科学前沿探索prnasia.com
- 5珀金埃尔默与优宁维签署战略合作协议prnasia.com
- 6Oxford Immunotec to be acquired for $591M by Waltham companywbjournal.com
- 7PerkinElmer Appoints Dr. Kaveh Kahen as President of Analytical & Testing Solutions Businesschemeurope.com
- 8PerkinElmer collaborates with Sonora Quest Laboratories to expand COVID-19 testing in Arizonaselectscience.net
- 9PerkinElmer India signs Distribution Agreement with GenWorks Healthbusiness-standard.com
- 10PerkinElmer launches COVID-19 environmental surface testing kits for food processorsselectscience.net
- 11PerkinElmer launches next-generation cell image analysis and management software to streamline drug discovery decision-makingselectscience.net
- 12PerkinElmer: Project Farma Acquires SimoTech, Bringing End-to-End GMP Automation and Digital Manufacturing to Life Sciences Customersfinanznachrichten.de
- 13Project Farma Acquires SimoTech To Expand Life Sciences Manufacturing Servicespharmaceuticalonline.com
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