In Brief

• Ametek is buying the Solartron Group from Roxboro for about £42m. Solartron, with annual sales of around £27m, supplies analytical instrumentation to industrial markets. The deal follows Roxboro`s earlier £26m sale of its Solartron Mobrey measurement business to Emerson which is renaming it Mobrey Measurement. In a separate deal, Ametek has acquired patented technology from Xtreme Energy to produce high-efficiency, brushless, slotless DC motors said to deliver more power for their size than comparable motors

• Bonomi (UK) has acquired Prolasa Fluid Connectors, based near Norwich. The acquisition will add hydraulic couplings, high-pressure ball valves and filtration equipment to Bonomi`s range.

• Members of the Institutions of Mechanical and Civil Engineers have voted to allow their boards to press ahead with merger talks. But the 11,541 IMechE members who voted were more enthusiastic with 72% supporting the merger and 20% opposing it. Of the 9,103 ICE members who voted, just 51% supported the merger, with 40% voting against the plan.

• Erodex (UK)`s carbon brush division, Engineering Carbon Products, has opened new premises in Croydon, South London, two months after a fire destroyed its former premises, nearby. The phone number is 0208 688 9913.

• The third quarter engineering outlook survey conducted by EEF and RSM Robson Rhodes reveals that, although growth in UK manufacturing is still slow, there was a modest upturn in output in most sectors outside motor vehicles. Firms were also more optimistic about the fourth quarter and were forecasting growth for the second half of 2006.