Sartorius Stedim Biotech, has signed a contract to acquire U.S. centrifuge specialist kSep Holdings. The privately owned company based in Morrisville, NC, has been operating on the market since 2011, and is expected to achieve significant double-digit growth and to generate around $7 million sales revenues and a strong double-digit EBITDA margin in 2016. The transaction values kSep at around $28 million and will be closed by the end of July 2016.

kSep has developed and markets single-use, fully automated centrifugation systems used for manufacturing biopharmaceuticals, such as vaccines, cell-based therapeutics and monoclonal antibodies.

“kSep’s centrifuges are a very innovative, single-use cell separation technology that perfectly complements our offering for downstream bioprocessing,” said Reinhard Vogt, member of Sartorius’ board. “Our clients will greatly benefit from the unique ability to collect, wash and concentrate cells quickly and reduce both the time and cost of downstream purification steps.”

Sartorius will retain kSep’s current leadership and staff.

“Sartorius Stedim Biotech’s strong relationships with its customers will significantly speed up our internationalization and business growth. Sartorius will provide access to considerably more customers, especially in Asia, a market we haven’t developed yet,” said Sunil Mehta, president and chief executive officer, kSep.