Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (NYSE:IMA) agreed to pay $110 million in cash for Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. (NYSE: MMC) subsidiary Kroll Inc.’s substance abuse testing lab.
It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves for the Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostics and lab equipment maker, which has been on a buying (and selling) spree so far this year.
The deal for Gretna, La.-based Kroll Laboratory Specialists Inc., which provides forensic-quality substance abuse testing products and services in the U.S., follows the sale of Inverness’s vitamin and nutritional supplements subsidiary to International Vitamin Corp. for $63.4 million in cash in mid-January. Early this month it closed its deal to buy a three-quarters stake in Korean rapid diagnostics maker Standard Diagnostics (KDQ:066930) for up to $216.6 million. Inverness also inked a group of distribution-to-acquisition deals with Epocal Inc. early this year that could lead to it paying $255 million for the of Ottawa, Canada-based blood testing equipment maker, and bought British CRO Mologic in October 2009, registering nearly 129,000 shares worth about $5 million held by a group of Mologic founders and managers.
IMA put some black in back on the ledger during the third quarter, logging a 22.1 percent increase in revenues compared with Q3 2008, largely on a jump in sales of its influenza diagnostic tests and contributions from acquisitions.
Inverness posted net income of $14.3 million on net sales of $535.8 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $9.1 million on sales of $438.8 million during the same period last year. The company credited strong sales of products related to Swine Flu for the improvement.
The Kroll buyout is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010. Kroll Lab Specialists posted sales of about $40 million in 2008.