The story
Founded by Klaus Woerner in 1978.1
ATS was founded by Klaus Woerner in 1978. Woerner, who immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1974, ran the company until his death in 2005, overseeing significant growth. In 2007, ATS pulled the planned IPO of its solar division, Photowatt. Partially as a result of this, two hedge funds, Goodwood and Mason Capital Management, led a proxy fight against the firm, leading to a new board of directors and management team. Anthony Caputo became CEO at this time. Photowatt under-performed significantly in the years that followed; the company eventually sold Photowatt's French operations to EDF Group.
In 2011, ATS purchased Sortimat Group, a German life sciences automation firm, for $62 million. In 2013, they purchased the German packaging firm IWK for $144 million, and in 2014, they purchased the automation business of the German company M+W Group for $362 million.
In 2019, ATS acquired Comecer S.p.A, an Italian manufacturer of isolation technology solutions based in Castel Bolognese.
In September 2023, ATS acquired Avidity Science, a biomedical research and life sciences water purification equipment provider, for $195 million.
In December 2025, Doug Wright was appointed CEO of the company.
From Wikipedia’s article on ATS Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6