$17 billion acquisition establishes leading player in life science industry

The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review

Acquisition will combine two of the world’s leading brands in laboratory consumables

Acquisition complements Agilent’s market-leading separations and mass spectrometry solutions, expands pharma offerings

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in healthcare, life science and performance materials, announced June 15 that the European Commission has approved its planned acquisition of U.S.-based life science company Sigma-Aldrich.

A biomedical firm that traces its origins to research done at the University of Copenhagen has been acquired by an American drug maker. The sale underscores the role the University plays in the establishment of spin-out firms and in helping society benefit from research.

Acquisition expands EMD Millipore’s global reach, increasing the company’s presence in North America and adding exposure to fast-growing Asian markets.

One of the most important business acquisitions in the history of Analytik Jena AG has been closed.

Malvern Instruments Ltd (Malvern, UK) has today (July 25) announced that it has completed the acquisition of MicroCal from GE Healthcare Life Sciences and has also purchased the Archimedes particle characterization system from Affinity Biosensors LLC (Santa Barbara, CA). Both of these developments extend Malvern’s portfolio of analytical solutions for the rapidly advancing biopharmaceutical industry.

Beckman Coulter, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR), announced today (July 16) that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the clinical microbiology business of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.