Thermo Fisher Scientific ($TMO) is buying diagnostics company One Lambda for $925 million in cash, an acquisition Thermo Fisher says will add about 10 cents to its share price.
One Lambda specializes in transplant diagnostics, and Thermo Fisher is targeting the company's tissue-typing assays, which detect human leukocyte antigens to determine whether transplants will be rejected. One Lambda pulled in about $182 million in revenue last year, the company said, and it will fold into Thermo Fisher's Specialty Diagnostics segment.
One Lambda works with about 1,400 labs around the world, and the company's market share will be a boost to Thermo Fisher's Dx unit, Thermo Fisher said. "One Lambda gives us access to the attractive transplant diagnostics market and complements our existing immunosuppressant monitoring assays," Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper said in a statement. "It also offers the opportunity to leverage our global commercial infrastructure to serve growing transplant needs in emerging markets."
The deal includes a three-year retention plan for One Lambda employees, and it's Thermo Fisher's 27th takeover over the past 5 years, Bloomberg notes. The Waltham, MA, company has dropped about $6.8 billion on acquisitions in that time, including a $3.5 billion buyout of Phadia AB in 2011 and a $2.1 billion buy of Dionex in 2010.
Those acquisitions have already paid off for Thermo Fisher. The company outstripped expectations with its first-quarter revenue, reporting a 27% increase due in part to its burgeoning diagnostics business.
- read Thermo Fisher's statement
- here's Bloomberg's take