Life Technologies ($LIFE) said it enlisted two investment banks to help with a "strategic review," but the Financial Post reports that the sequencing and diagnostics giant is working to drum up interest in a buyout worth up to $15.7 billion.
The company signed up with Deutsche Bank Securities and Moelis & Company, and the newspaper reports that the two have reached out to at least four private equity heavyweights to gauge their interest in buying Life, with the company hoping to get a deal done next month. The Post's sources figure the asking price at between $65 and $75 per share, for a total of $13.7 billion to $15.7 billion.
All that said, the paper's story doesn't cite any named sources or make reference to any documents beyond the agreement with the two banks. Furthermore, it's laden with phrases like "the talk is" and makes assertions that aren't really attributed to anyone or anything.
For its part, Life put out a terse statement this morning acknowledging that it has employed the two banks but saying they will simply "assist in its annual strategic review," adding that "the board of directors has not decided on any specific course of action."
If Life is indeed looking for a buyer, it spent most of 2012 sweetening the deal with acquisitions of its own. Life bought companies in molecular diagnostics, bioinformatics and gene sequencing, and it partnered up with pharmas and hospitals, most recently launching a genomics joint venture with Boston Children's.
- read the Post's story
- check out Life's statement