Exclusive-Danaher in the lead to acquire biomedical equipment vendor Abcam -sources

David Carnevali
Updated ·2 min read

By David Carnevali

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Danaher Corp is in the lead to acquire Abcam Plc, a provider of supplies to life science researchers with a market value of $5.4 billion, as it expands its biomedical offerings, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Abcam believes that Danaher's all-cash offer is superior to a rival bid from Agilent Technologies Inc, the sources said.

The exact price that Danaher is offering could not be learned. One of the sources said the deal price would be close to Abcam's current valuation, given that its stock has already risen more than 20% after Bloomberg News reported on June 16 that the company was fielding takeover interest.

If the negotiations conclude successfully, a deal could be announced as early as next week, the sources said, cautioning that no agreement is certain and that the outcome could still change. They asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Abcam, Danaher and Agilent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Abcam shares rose as much as 9% in afternoon trading in New York on Friday to $24.52. Danaher shares were up 1.3% at $256.76.

Based in Cambridge, England, Abcam supplies antibodies, reagents and other products used in medical research. The company serves roughly 750,000 research scientists at academic, research, government and biopharmaceutical organizations.

Abcam has come under pressure from activist shareholders to sell itself, including its founder Jonathan Milner who owns 6.1% of the company, as well as hedge fund Starboard Value LP, complaining about the company's stock underperforming for most of the last two years.

Danaher, one of the world's largest suppliers of diagnostic tools with a market value of $190 billion, has turned to dealmaking to expand in the sector. Abcam's antibody and reagent solutions could help Danaher win more and bigger contracts with some customers.

Danaher acquired General Electric Co's biopharma solution business for $21.4 billion in 2019 and contract development and manufacturing organization Aldevron for $9.6 billion in 2021.

(Reporting by David Carnevali in New YorkEditing by Greg Roumeliotis and Nick Zieminski)