LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Oxford Instruments (>> Oxford Instruments plc) said it had made a firm offer to buy scientific camera maker Andor Technology (>> Andor Technology plc) for about 159 million pounds, the same price it indicated it would be willing to pay earlier this month.

Andor said it was looking at the possible offer and would update shareholders by its full-year results on December 2.

Oxford Instruments had been in talks with Andor for some months before making its interest public on November 12, a move that Andor said was "premature" and "unhelpful" in light of the negotiations.

Oxford Instruments said on Wednesday it had confirmed its 500 pence a share bid to the Andor's board and was seeking its endorsement.

Oxford Instruments shares in London closed at 1491 pence on Wednesday. Andor shares closed at 504.5 pence, marginally above the offer price.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle in London and Abhirup Roy in Bangalore; Editing by Neil Maidment and Rhys Jones)

Stocks treated in this article : Oxford Instruments plc, Andor Technology plc