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| Life's Ion Torrent sequencing platform sales helped Life post a 3% revenue spike last quarter.--Courtesy of Life Technologies |
Life Technologies ($LIFE) says its keeping its options wide open during a strategic review, considering selling itself as analysts predict the sequencing giant's price tag could soar north of $15 billion.
Last month, Life signed up with Deutsche Bank Securities and Moelis & Company, kicking off a mudslide of rumors that the two banks were in talks with a host of private equity giants about a possible team-up to acquire the company at up to $75 a share, a 14% premium over the current price that would value the company at $15.7 billion.
"All ideas are on the table, including pursuing our current strategy or something different," CEO Gregory Lucier told investors on a conference call, Reuters reports. According to the news service, Thermo Fisher ($TMO) has entered the fray of potential suitors, should the winning idea be "sell." The device and diagnostics giant reportedly joins Blackstone, KKR, TPG Global and Carlyle Investment Management, the four private equity firms said to be giving Life a hard look.
Meanwhile, Life posted a 3% revenue spike in the last quarter, using a jump in demand for its Ion Torrent sequencing platform to a $999 million sales quarter. For 2013, Life projects growth of 3% to 5%, good for between $3.9 billion and $4 billion. Of course, just whose pockets that revenue will line remains a mystery.
- read the Reuters news
- check out Life's Q4 results