Waltham, MA 2/26/10—PerkinElmer has agreed to purchase the remaining interest of its joint venture in Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and related assets from Danaher. Danaher purchased a 50% share of the joint venture when it acquired MDS Analytical Technologies (see IBO 9/15/09). “The consolidation of the joint venture will reinforce our market leadership position […]

Darmstadt, Germany and Billerica, MA 2/28/10; Billerica, MA 2/24/10—Merck KGaA has agreed to acquire Millipore for approximately £5.3 million ($7.2 billion), including net debt, or $107 per share in cash. Millipore provides bioproduction and bioresearch products, including life science consumables, filtration and laboratory water products. The deal comes a week after media reports that Thermo […]

Chicago, IL and Santa Clara, CA 2/3/10—Agilent Technologies has sold Hycor Biomedical, which it acquired through its purchase of Stratagene (see IBO 4/15/07), to private equity firm Linden. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Hycor develops, manufacturers and markets in vitro diagnostic products for the allergy, autoimmune and urinanalysis markets. “Hycor is an innovative, […]

Waltham, MA 2/1/10; Waltham, MA 2/2/10—Thermo Fisher Scientific has completed its second and third acquisitions this year (see IBO 1/31/10). On February 1, Thermo announced a definitive agreement to purchase Finnzymes, a provider of PCR solutions, including reagents, instruments, consumables and kits, including the Phire and Phusion DNA polymerases. Based in Espoo, Finland, Finnzymes has […]

New York, NY and Tokyo, Japan 2/9/10—Sony Corporation of America has acquired iCyt Mission Technology, a provider of cell sorters, for an undisclosed amount. “We are confident that this acquisition will accelerate the development of Sony’s flow cytometry business by combining Sony’s expertise in the manufacturing of electronics products for consumers and professionals with the […]

Sunnyvale, CA 2/11/10; Washington, DC 2/11/10—Symyx Technologies will transfer the assets of its High Productivity Research (HPR) unit to a new company, HPR Global. The company will receive $8.6 million of positive net working capital from Symyx in return for a $10.0 million note and 19.5% equity stake. Symyx retains rights to royalties and license […]

Foster City, CA and Ontario, Canada 2/1/10; Carlsbad, CA 2/1/10; Ontario, Canada 2/1/10; Washington, DC 2/1/10—Danaher and MDS have announced the completion of Danaher’s acquisition of MDS Analytical Technologies for $650 million in cash (see IBO 9/15/09), which includes the acquisition of MDS Sciex and Life Technologies’ MS joint venture. The new company for the […]

San Diego, CA 1/15/09—Sequenom has settled a consolidated securities class action lawsuit. Filed between April and June 2009 in the US District Court for the Southern District of California, the 12 suits charged certain Sequenom’s officers and directors with violations of the antifraud provision of US securities law by making false and misleading statements about […]

Washington, DC 1/28/10—In its fourth-quarter earnings conference call, Danaher announced that Hach Lange has purchased Crison Instruments SA, a manufacturer of electrochemistry instruments and consumables. “Crison’s high-quality, easy-to-use product portfolio strengthens Hach Lange’s e-chem lab and process business,” commented H. Lawrence Culp Jr., CEO and president of Danaher. According to a letter to customers, Crison […]

Waltham, MA 1/19/10—Thermo Fisher Scientific has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ahura Scientific for $145 million in cash plus the potential for earn-out payments based on 2010 financial targets. Ahura Scientific provides miniaturized Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy instruments for safety, security and pharmaceutical applications. The 120-employee company had 2009 revenues of $45 million. “The […]