Sartorius has signed an agreement to acquire parts of Danaher’s Life Science portfolio for approximately $750 million.
 
Danaher is selling these businesses as a step towards obtaining regulatory approval for its pending acquisition of the GE Biopharma business. The closing of the Sartorius agreement is conditioned upon Danaher’s closing the GE deal, which remains subject to approvals from various regulatory authorities.
 
Thomas P. Joyce, Jr., president and chief executive officer, said, “This represents a significant step in the regulatory process toward closing the GE Biopharma acquisition. While timing around meeting all closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, is still uncertain, we remain very encouraged by the progress to date and expect closing of the transaction in the first quarter of 2020.”
 
The portfolio proposed to be acquired includes three businesses that are currently part of Danaher’s Life Science platform:
 
The label-free biomolecular characterization business, FortéBio, comprises innovative protein analysis instruments, biosensors and reagents that are used in drug discovery and would become part of Sartorius’ bioanalytics unit within its Lab Products & Services division. The products are based on the patented biolayer interferometry technology and perform real-time analysis of biomolecular interaction. The business employs approximately 200 employees worldwide with production sites in Fremont, CA, and Shanghai, China, and accounts for roughly half of the acquired turnover.
 
With the chromatography hardware and resins business, Sartorius would expand the offerings of its Bioprocess Solutions division. The business addresses an essential step in downstream bioprocessing and encompasses multi-use and single-use equipment as well as columns and resins. The unit employs approximately 100 people at its sites in Europe and the U.S.
 
The third business, SoloHill, includes mainly a microcarrier technology and particle validation standards used in cell culture and other bioprocesses. It is located in Ann Arbor, MI, and employs approximately 10 employees.
 
“The portfolio proposed for acquisition represents an excellent strategic fit with Sartorius,” said Joachim Kreuzburg, chief executive officer, Sartorius. “With the Octet platform of FortéBio, we will add a broadly accepted and differentiated technology for advancing and simplifying drug discovery to our lab division’s portfolio. The chromatography hardware and resins and the microcarrier businesses broaden our strong bioprocessing offering, particularly in the downstream area. We look very much forward to welcoming the new teams to Sartorius and to jointly combine our capabilities for the benefit of our biopharma and life science customers.”
 
The businesses had combined sales turnover of approximately $140 million in 2018 and employ around 300 people worldwide. The proposed transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.

Visit Sartorius at CPhI booth 120F17.