Thermo Fisher to acquire Dionex for $2.1 billion

Hot on the heels of Thermo Fisher's announcement it plans to acquire Lomb Scientific comes news that the scientific equipment supplier is also fixing to snap up Dionex Corporation, for a total price of US$2.1 billion ($2.11 billion).

Thermo's board unanimously approved the transaction, which will see the company purchase all outstanding shares in Dionex for US$118.50 ($119) per share, which represents a 21 per cent premium on Dionex's closing price on December 10, and a 32 per cent premium on the 60 day average.

The acquisition will expand Thermo Fisher's range of products by adding Dionex's ion and liquid chromatography platforms to Thermo's own range of chromatography and mass spectroscopy products.

These products expand Thermo's coverage of applications including water and environmental analysis, which are growth areas driven by new regulatory requirements in developing countries such as China.

The acquisition also aids Thermo Fisher's continued expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, with Dionex already generated more than a third of its revenue in Asia-Pacific and other emerging markets.

“We believe the combination of Thermo Fisher and Dionex is extremely compelling from a technology, market and financial perspective,” said Marc N. Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher, in a statement.

“Dionex’s strength in chromatography instruments, software and consumables complements our leading positions in mass spectrometry and laboratory information management systems. The transaction, which we expect to be immediately accretive, is consistent with our strategy of accelerating growth by increasing our depth of capabilities to serve attractive end markets.

"Specifically, it complements our strong presence in China, where we’ve established the headquarters for our global environmental instruments business and continue to build our commercial infrastructure to meet the needs of customers in growing water quality, consumer safety and life sciences markets.”

The California-based Dionex had an annual revenue of US$420 million last year and employs over 1,600 individuals in 21 countries.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011, subject to the usual regulatory hurdles.

Both Thermo Fisher's and Dionex's share prices saw a bump on the back of the announcement, with Thermo gaining 4.75% to $55.56, and Dionex jumping 19.66% to $117.83.