Invitrogen, Applera agree on $6.7B merger

Two big suppliers to the drug development business are merging. Invitrogen has agreed to acquire all of the shares of Applera's Applied Biosystems [1] in a $6.7 billion cash and stock deal. The Invitrogen/Applera combo--to be called Applied Biosystems--will have $3.5 billion in annual sales and will be based in Carlsbad, CA. The companies say they'll be able to shave $125 million in costs following the merger. In a release, the company said it would hold a major presence in key areas like genetic analysis, proteomics, cell biology and cell systems.

"This transaction combines the industry's premier consumables provider with the industry's premier systems provider to create a world-class biotechnology tools company," said Invitrogen CEO Gregory Lucier. "With this acquisition, we are nearly doubling our consumables business as almost half of Applied Biosystems's revenues are consumable in nature. It also provides significant value creating opportunities for customers, shareholders and employees alike."

- check out the merger release [2]
- read the report [3] from SoCalTech

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