Danaher Purchases Life Science Businesses for US $1.1 Billion

(DHR; Washington, DC, USA) will acquire life science instrumentation businesses from MDS Inc. (Mississauga, ON, Canada) and Life Technologies (Carlsbad, CA, USA). The company has signed a definitive agreement with MDS Inc. to acquire its analytical technologies division, which includes a 50% ownership position in Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA, USA)/MDS Sciex joint venture (AB Sciex), a mass spectrometry business, and a 100% ownership position in the former Molecular Devices Corporation (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a bioresearch and analytical instrumentation company.

In a separate but related transaction, Danaher signed a definitive agreement with Life Technologies Corp. to acquire the remaining 50% ownership position in AB Sciex. After completion of both transactions, Danaher will own outright AB Sciex and MDS. The aggregate purchase price for the combined transactions is $1.1 billion, including debt assumed and net of cash acquired.

The transaction with MDS Inc. is subject to approval of the MDS shareholders. Both transactions are subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, including the absence of material adverse change with respect to the acquired businesses. Danaher expects the transactions to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The acquired businesses will operate within Danaher's medical technologies segment and will expand the segment's annual revenues by more than $650 million. Danaher's life sciences and diagnostics annual revenues will increase to more than $2 billion.

AB Sciex designs and manufactures mass spectrometers, and instruments used by clinicians and researchers to identify and quantify specific molecules in complex samples. Typical applications include diagnostics testing, drug development, food and environmental safety testing, and proteomics research. MDS supplies bioanalytical instrumentation.

Danaher designs, manufactures, and markets products and services to professional, medical, industrial, and commercial customers. Its portfolio of brands is well recognized in each of its markets.

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Danaher Corp.
MDS Inc.
AB Sciex
Life Technologies Corp.
Molecular Devices Corporation