Invitrogen, AB postpone merger
Thursday, 16 October, 2008
The merger between scientific equipment giants Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems has been delayed due to the slumping global market.
Shareholders had been scheduled to meet today to vote to finalise the merger.
But the deal, which was originally worth around US$7 billion, has been devalued to US$5.5 billion due to the sharp decline in the value of Invitrogen shares due to the stock market crisis.
In a joint statement, the two companies said there were also tax issues to be overcome before the merger goes ahead, which both are confident will happen.
The proposal will be discussed at a general meeting on October 28. Both companies expect the deal to go ahead as planned, and be complete by the end of November.
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