Way Paved for Acquisition

NEWPORT BEACH —  Pacific Scientific Co., removing a potential antitrust obstacle to its acquisition of an Oregon company, has agreed to sell a Maryland division that makes drinking-water monitors.

Without the divestiture, the Justice Department said, Pacific Scientific’s merger with Met One Inc., of Grants Pass, would have damaged competition for devices known as drinking water particle counters, which municipal water plants use to guard against contamination by microorganisms.

Pacific Scientific manufactures and sells the particle counters through its Hiac/Royco division in Silver Spring, Md. Richard Plat, Pacific Scientific’s vice president for finance, said water-quality equipment accounts for about $1 million of the company’s $270 million in annual sales.