FAQs for customers having products acquired from Varian
General questions:
Which products are being divested?
- Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
- Laboratory gas chromatography (Lab GC)
- Quadrupole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS and GC/MS/MS)
I have products that are being divested and products that remain Varian/Agilent in the same location (for example, Varian ICP-MS and Varian ICP-OES); how will my information be treated as these two products are going to different companies?
All information about those customers that is related to the divested products will be transferred to Bruker. The information about those customers that is related to non-divested products will remain with Agilent.
If I received a quotation before the divestiture and decide to place the order after the divestiture, which company will be responsible for my order?
For “all” divested products; Bruker. Agilent is required to give Bruker the information related to all outstanding quotes. If the customer signs the Purchase Order before the expiration date then Bruker receives the order. Bruker has committed to honor the terms and conditions of the unexpired outstanding quotes; same for tenders.
If I recently placed an order for a divested product that will be delivered after the Bruker/Agilent deal is closed, which company will handle the installation of this divested product?
Agilent is required to give Bruker all signed orders; the installation and warranty commitments associated with those orders go with them. If you bought a support contract with the instrument, order and delivery responsibilities also are Bruker’s. If you did not buy support with the instrument, you are free to get support from any party.
Service Contracts & Warranty related questions:
I have several Varian products, divested and non-divested. How will future support be handled?
On the day the divestiture is final, depending on your situation, this is how support will be handled:
- Divested Products under warranty:
Bruker becomes responsible for warranty commitments
- Service contracts that cover only divested products:
Bruker becomes responsible for contract commitments
- Service contracts that cover both divested and non-divested products:
Varian-Agilent keeps contract commitment
Bruker delivers service for divested products as a subcontractor to Agilent
- After contract expires:
A customer can get support or services from any company
- Not under warranty or contract:
A customer can get support or services from any company
Who will service the GC-MS Ion trap system with other GC detectors on the system. IE: FID, TCD, under contract or warranty?
Anything related to GC-MS Ion Traps will be serviced by Agilent.
Who will provide the service of a 450-GC used with an Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer?
Anything related to a GC-MS Ion Trap remains with Agilent.
We have a purchase-price-agreement for divested Varian products. What will happen with these contracts at Bruker/Agilent?
Bruker will need to establish new long-term or volume-based purchase price agreements.
What about outstanding quotations for service contracts that do not expire for another 1 to 2 months? Are the quotes still valid after the divestiture?
The quoted Terms & Conditions for divested products will be considered valid by Bruker until the quotation expires. So the customer is still free to make the choice about accepting that quote for as long as it is valid after the divestiture closes. After that, Bruker may re-negotiate the conditions with the customer.
Who will be servicing the 8400/8410 Autosampler?
It would be very difficult to separate the GC service with a GC/Autosampler combination. This is the principle we are trying to use in most cases: keeping support responsibilities together for the complete system.
In this case:
- If the GC+Autosampler system is under contract now, And the contract covers only divested instruments, Bruker would be assigned the contract, or if the contract covers both divested and non-divested products, Agilent would subcontract to Bruker to provide the support on this system .
- If the system is not under contract now, then either company can compete for the full support business.
What about multiple-year service contracts which are already booked?
These follow the same rules: They go to Bruker if they are for divested products only. They go to Agilent if they include divested and non-divested products.
I have a Varian LC-MS and a Varian GC-MS, both quadrupole systems. May the Varian/Agilent service engineer only service one of them or both?
If these instruments are covered under the same contract, Varian/ Agilent keep the contract commitment. Service for the quadrupole GC/MS will be subcontracted to Bruker.
If they are covered under separate contracts the GC/MS contract will go to Bruker. The LC/MS contract will stay with Varian/Agilent.
If your Varian contract has expired then you can purchase a new contract from any party. Other services can be purchased from any party at any time.
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