Rumor Mill Churns with Thermo Fisher Scientific's $6B Takeover Bid for Millipore

Rumors have been swirling around that Thermo Fisher Scientific is willing to pay $6 billion for Millipore. The company’s value rose sharply in afternoon trading yesterday after Bloomberg broke the story based on an unnamed source.

Millipore’s stock climbed over 40% to reach an all time high of $100.32. Shares cooled off a bit, and the firm closed the day at about $87.12. The company has reportedly employed Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor.

Karen Kirkwood, Thermo Fisher Scientific spokeswoman, said that the company doesn’t comment on rumors, while no one from Millipore was immediately available.

Since the start of 2009, Thermo Fischer Scientific has acquired Ahura Scientific for $145 million to obtain hand-held analytical instruments, Finnzymes for high-performance PCR solutions, Australian firm Biolab for $125 million, and B.R.A.H.M.S. for $470.65 million to gain in vitro diagnostics.

The takeover of Millipore would be the biggest deal since Thermo purchased Fisher Scientific in 2006 for a little over $10 billion to create the juggernaut Thermo Fisher Scientific. The agreement combined Thermo’s analytical instrumentation expertise with Fisher’s laboratory reagents and consumables.

If Thermo Fisher Scientific’s bid for Millipore is indeed a reality and passes muster, the former would gain, most significantly, a slew of offerings related to biomanufacturing. In the past year Millipore has also also been expanding its global footprint by taking charge of its joint venture in India and purchasing Oxford, U.K.-based BioAnalab. The acquisition of BioAnalab along with that of Guava Technologies also bolstered the company’s analysis capabilities.