The medical device giant Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is back with a new acquisition valued at nearly $10 billion. The company is buying Aldevron for $9.6 billion from private equity firm EQT Partners. Founded in 1998, Aldevron manufactures high-quality plasmid DNA, mRNA, and proteins, serving biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers across research, clinical and commercial applications. The business employs 600 people. No other financials for Aldevron were disclosed. The deal was financed by using cash on hand and/or proceeds from the issuance of commercial paper.
Aldevron will operate as a standalone operating company and brand within Danaher’s Life Sciences segment. The acquisition significantly expands Danaher Corporation’s presence in the genomics market. EQT Partners purchased Aldevron in July 2019 from TA Associates.
It’s been more than two years since we’ve seen Danaher Corporation on the acquisition trail. Back in February 2019, the company purchased GE Life Sciences’ biopharma business for $21 billion in cash and assumption of certain pension liabilities. The business provided instruments, consumables and software that support the research, discovery, process development and manufacturing workflows of biopharmaceutical drugs. The division became a stand-alone company within Danaher’s Life Sciences segment, joining the Pall, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, SCIEX, Leica Microsystems, Molecular Devices, Phenomenex and IDT businesses.
