The CEO of a laboratory science company — most likely Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s (NYSE:TMO) Marc Casper — helped set off the bidding contest for Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL) when he proposed a cash acquisition of the maker of filters and instruments in a Jan. 4 letter to company officials, according to recent securities documents.
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher inks supply pact with pharma giant Eli Lilly
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) inked a five-year supply deal with Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) that will see it take over some of the pharma giant’s clinical trial operations in Indianapolis.
Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher said its Fisher Clinical Services subsidiary will take over Lilly’s in-house clinical trial materials manufacturing, packaging and labeling operations in the Circle City. That transition should be done some time this summer, and by the end of the year TMO will have taken over the clinical trial materials distribution throughout North America.
Thermo Fisher partners up to land stimulus funds
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is bringing in extra help to secure more business with cash-rich stimulus recipients.
The Waltham, Mass.-based laboratory instruments maker is partnering with The Winvale Group to broaden its reach among government agencies using federal stimulus dollars in the market for laboratory information management systems or chromatography data systems.
Thermo Fisher completes $145 million Ahura Scientific acquisition
Amid reports that it’s a major player in the $6 billion Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL) sweepstakes, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) finished up a slightly smaller deal by closing its acquisition of Ahura Scientific.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab equipment and services provider said in January that it had agreed to acquire Ahura for $145 million in cash plus a possible earn-out payment if Ahura meets certain 2010 financial targets. Ahura makes portable chemical detection devices designed for use outside of the lab.
Thermo Fisher may boost Millipore bid
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) may soon boost its initial $6 billion offer in order to reel in Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL).
Bloomberg News, citing a person close to the situation, said Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher was considering offering a higher price for Millipore. The source did not provide Bloomberg with a specific price, although the news service reported that any deal would include Thermo Fisher taking on Millipore’s $890 million in long-term debt.
Millipore confirms it’s considering buyout bid, “strategic alternatives”
The “For Sale” sign officially went up outside Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL).
Responding to speculation that it’s the target of a $6 billion buyout offer, executives at the Billerica, Mass.-based maker of bioscience equipment late Feb. 23 confirmed they hired Goldman Sachs to assist them in “evaluating strategic alternatives, including pursuing a process with potential bidders to explore a possible merger or sale of the company.”
Millipore jumps on reports of $6 billion Thermo Fisher buyout
Millipore Corp. (NYSE:MIL) shares soared as much as 43 percent today after news reports that Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) is considering a $6 billion unsolicited bid for the Billerica, Mass.-based company.
Bloomberg News, citing a person familiar with the situation, said Millipore recently hired Goldman Sachs as its financial adviser after receiving the bid and that a deal could be agreed on as early as next week. The news service said the person did not want to be identified because the talks are not yet public.
Thermo Fisher posts record Q4 sales
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) posted record sales during the fourth quarter, but full-year sales suffered from the downturn in the capital expenditures market earlier in 2009.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab instruments and services provider posted sales of $2.84 billion during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2009, up 7.3 percent compared with $2.65 billion during the same period in 2008. Net income slipped 4.8 percent to $273 million, or 65 cents per diluted share, compared with $287 million, or 67 cents per share, during Q4 2008.
Thermo Fisher to acquire Finnish PCR firm
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) agreed to pay an unspecified amount for Finnish polymerase chain reaction equipment maker Finnzyme, in a bid to bolster one of its own recent PCR assay offerings.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab equipment maker said it inked the deal to acquire Espoo, Finland-based Finnzyme because that company’s proprietary DNA polymerases, Phire and Phusion, complement its own Solaris line of real-time quantitative PCR assays. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter.
Thermo Fisher inks deal with Russian distributor Optec
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: TMO) inked a supply deal with Russian firm Optec LLC to provide cancer diagnostic equipment to several hospitals across the Russian Federation.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab instrument maker will supply its Thermo Scientific Excelsior ES to hospitals in Moscow, Penza, Kirov, Volgograd and Voronezh.
The deal is worth an estimated $2 million, according to a prepared release put out by Optec, which also acts as a distribution partner for Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK), according to its website.
Thermo Fisher to drop $145 million on Ahura Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) will spend at least $145 million to buy handheld spectrometer maker Ahura Scientific.
The Waltham, Mass.-based lab equipment and services provider said it agreed to acquire Ahura for $145 million in cash plus a possible earn-out payment if Ahura meets certain 2010 financial targets. Ahura makes portable chemical detection devices designed for use outside of the lab.