Merck KGaA to sell Reagent Arm to Luminex
Merck KGaA, the German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and laboratory science group, is selling its MilliporeSigma Flow Cytometry unit to Luminex, based at Austin, Texas, in the US.
The transaction worth €62.5 million ($75 million) is due to close end of 2018, subject to customary conditions. Around $69.9 million of the purchase price is to be paid under a Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement and another $5.1 million in committed inventory purchases.
Following the deal, Luminex will own the flow cytometry platforms Amnis and Guava and the associated reagents under those brands, which Merck said encompass a portfolio of leading technologies serving the research sector.
The companies said the “strategic agreement” will allow Luminex to increase its footprint in the multi-billion-dollar flow cytometry market and expand its offering of flow-based detection systems, focused on the xMAP multiplexing technology. This combines advanced fluidics, optics and digital signal processing with proprietary microsphere technology to deliver industry-leading, multiplexed assay capabilities.
Udit Batra, member of the Merck executive board and CEO, Life Science, said Luminex is a “long and trusted partner” that has provided the company with a wide range of solutions for clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical drug discovery and biomedical research.
