Monday, February 7, 2011

Beckman Coulter Acquired By Danaher For $6.8 Billion

Orange County-based Beckman Coulter, a maker of biomedical testing equipment, said today that it is in a merger agreement with Danaher, where Danaher will buy the firm for $6.8 billion. The deal is worth $83.50 per share in cash, which the firms said is a 45 percent premium over the closing price of its stock on December 9th, the day rumors of the deal started surfacing in the market. Beckman Coulter becomes part of Danaher's Life Sciences & Diagnostics segment. Beckman Coulter said it was advised by Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Latham & Watkins LLP in the deal.