GE acquires strategic assets from Thermo Fisher Scientific for $1.06 billion

GE and Thermo Fisher Scientific entered into an agreement for GE Healthcare to acquire Thermo Fisher’s HyClone™ cell culture media and sera, and gene modulation and magnetic beads businesses for approximately $1.06 billion. The acquisition will allow GE to expand its offering of technologies for the discovery and manufacturing of innovative new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics.The complementary product offerings and strong strategic fit of the acquired businesses will enable GE Healthcare to expand and accelerate the development of innovative “end-to-end” technologies for cell biology research, cell therapy and for the manufacture of innovative biological medicines and vaccines. The acquisition is consistent with GE’s strategy to invest in high-technology, innovative businesses that deliver strong top-line growth and expanded margins. GE’s acquisition of the businesses, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is anticipated to close in the first part of 2014.

John Dineen, President and CEO, GE Healthcare said, “Life Sciences is one of our strongest and fastest-growing business areas, driven by the world’s demand for improved diagnostics and new, safer medicines. Combining GE’s engineering expertise with our capabilities in life sciences is already bringing great benefits to industry, research and patients. This deal makes a good business even better and will help us realize our vision of bringing better healthcare to more people at lower cost.”

Kieran Murphy, President and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences division said, “In addition to providing us with new approaches to drug discovery and biomedical research, this acquisition is a significant step forward for our customers in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. They will benefit immediately from an expanded range of “start-to-finish” technologies that will help them improve product yields and reduce time-to-market. By expanding our production facilities to three continents, we will be able to offer the biopharmaceutical industry greater confidence in the security of supply of cell culture media and sera, a key part of their production process.”

The three acquired businesses generated combined annual revenues of approximately $250 million in 2013.