SANTA CLARA, Calif., and BILLERICA, Mass., Sept. 9, 2015 – Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) and Seahorse Bioscience today (Sept. 9) announced they have signed a definitive agreement under which Agilent will acquire Seahorse Bioscience, a leader in providing instruments and assay kits for measuring cell metabolism and bioenergetics.

Exploration into cell metabolism is rapidly accelerating as the links between mitochondrial function and disease are increasingly revealed. Seahorse Bioscience’s leading technology enables researchers to better understand cell health, function and signaling, and how the cell may be impacted by the introduction of a specific drug, by providing real-time kinetics to unlock essential cellular bioenergetics data.

Scientists use Seahorse Bioscience’s proprietary XF Technology to research the role of cell metabolism in neurodegeneration, aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cell physiology, toxicology and hepatobiology, immunology, infectious diseases, mitochondrial diseases, model organisms, obesity, diabetes, metabolic disorders, screening and translational medicine.

“Seahorse Bioscience’s unique technology is the perfect complement to Agilent’s market-leading separations and mass spectrometry solutions, in particular for metabolomics research and disease research in pharma,” said Patrick Kaltenbach, president of Agilent’s Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group. “The combination of these two platforms gives scientists a more comprehensive and faster path to researching the most challenging diseases affecting mankind. Seahorse’s team and technology are an ideal fit for Agilent and for our customers, and we look forward to bringing them on board.”

“We are proud to have enabled the exploration of bioenergetics in living cells by nearly 10,000 scientists worldwide, and to have created a new category of cell-based assay tools,” said Jay Teich, chief executive officer, Seahorse Bioscience. “Joining Agilent, a premier, customer-focused supplier of technology to a much broader market, will give many more researchers access to Seahorse tools. And when these two technology-rich companies combine, we expect to offer a series of new products and applications that will benefit our customers.”  

Privately held Seahorse Bioscience, founded in 2001, is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, with manufacturing operations in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Regional offices are in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Shanghai, China. Seahorse Bioscience employs just under 200 people, most of whom are expected to join Agilent.

Agilent is acquiring Seahorse Bioscience for $235 million in cash. Seahorse’s FY15 revenue is estimated to be $49 million. The transaction is expected to be accretive in FY16 to Agilent and will be debt financed.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by Nov. 1, subject to local laws and regulations and customary closing conditions.