丹納赫將收購貝克曼庫爾特

丹納赫68億美元收購貝克曼診斷學業務，向生命科學領域進軍

一位實驗室人員正在使用貝克曼庫爾特的自動化儀器

　　丹納赫已經同意以68億美元（現金和債券總和）的價格收購生物醫療和實驗室自動化儀器供應商貝克曼庫爾特。丹納赫是一家多元化的控股公司，擁有顯微鏡、水處理技術和手持式儀器業務。

　　丹納赫向貝克曼報出的每股83.5美元的價格，高出貝克曼2010年12月9日股票收盤價的45%，該天也正是傳出收購消息的前一天。貝克曼公司為診斷和藥物研發提供各種實驗室儀器，每年可獲得37億美元的收入。

　　近幾年，丹納赫已經在擴展了其在生命科學和診斷方面的業務。2009年9月，丹納赫以11億美元從 MDS 和 Life Technologies那里收購了AB Sciex公司的質譜業務。這一收購項目促使丹納赫躋身全球儀器公司的前10位。

　　這一交易引起了儀器公司收購熱潮。2010年5月，作為增加其在分析和生命科學市場曝光率的策略之一，安捷倫科技以15億美元完成了對瓦里安的收購。同年12月，賽默飛世爾科技以21億美元收購液相色譜和離子色譜的領導者之一美國戴安公司。

　　貝克曼公司近幾年將主要業務集中在生命科學領域。貝克曼公司由Arnold O. Beckman于1935年創立，以銷售其第一支商品化pH計起家。1997年，貝克曼收購了庫爾特公司及其血液測試儀器業務，并于2009年，貝克曼的業務已經擴展到臨床化學領域。但貝克曼公司一直以來的好運在去年6月開始衰落，當時貝克曼接到了FDA的一封警告信，信中表示貝克曼未經適當許可便開始銷售用于急性心肌梗塞的生物標記試劑盒。 出乎意料的是，Scott Garrett于9月辭去了貝克曼公司 CEO一職。

　　Standard & Poor’s公司的一位股票分析家Efraim Levy講到，生命科學公司對于丹納赫來說是非常有吸引力的，因為丹納赫正在尋求快速增長、以科技為基礎的業務，可以帶來高額利潤及全球業務增長的機會。Levy還指出，“貝克曼的業務與丹納赫自身的業務有一定相似之處。”

　　參考英文原文

Danaher Will Buy Beckman Coulter

Diagnostics: $6.8 billion acquisition expands Danaher’s move into life sciences

　　Danaher has agreed to acquire biomedical and lab automation equipment maker Beckman Coulter for $6.8 billion in cash and debt. Danaher is a diversified holding company that owns businesses as varied as microscopes, water treatment technologies, and hand tools.

　　Danaher’s $83.50-per-share offer for Beckman represents a 45% premium on the closing price of Beckman’s stock on Dec. 9, 2010, the day before rumors of a sale began. With annual revenues of some $3.7 billion, Beckman sells laboratory equipment for diagnostics and drug discovery.

　　In recent years, Danaher has been adding to its life sciences and diagnostics segment. In September 2009, the company paid $1.1 billion to acquire mass spectrometry firm AB Sciex from its two owners, MDS and Life Technologies. The purchase pushed Danaher into the top 10 among global instrumentation firms (C&EN, April 26, 2010, page 22).

　　That deal set off a busy season for instrumentation acquisitions. In May 2010, Agilent Technologies completed its $1.5 billion acquisition of Varian, part of a strategy to boost its exposure to the analytics and life sciences markets. And in December 2010, Thermo Fisher Scientific said it would pay $2.1 billion to buy Dionex, a leader in liquid and ion chromatography.

　　Beckman’s focus on the life sciences is fairly recent. The company was founded in 1935 to sell the first commercial pH meter, invented by Arnold O. Beckman. In 1997, it acquired Coulter and its blood-testing instruments. Beckman expanded into clinical chemistry systems in 2009. But the firm’s fortunes dipped last June when it received an FDA warning letter saying it did not seek proper approval to sell a biomarker assay for acute myocardial infarction. The company’s CEO, Scott Garrett, unexpectedly resigned in September.

　　Life sciences companies are attractive targets for Danaher because it looks for fast-growing, technology-based businesses that bring high margins and an opportunity for international growth, says Efraim Levy, an equities analyst at Standard & Poor’s. In addition, Levy points out, “Beckman has some similarities to Danaher’s own businesses.”

　　英文原文鏈接：Danaher Will Buy Beckman Coulter