Phenomenex said today it has agreed to be acquired by Danaher for an undisclosed sum, in a deal that expands the buyer’s offerings in the life sciences, and specifically chromatography consumables.
Phenomenex manufactures high-performance liquid chromatography, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, preparatory liquid chromatography columns, gas chromatography columns, sample preparation, and accessory products.
Separation and purification consumables for liquid and gas chromatography are among Phenomenex’s more than 7000 products, which are designed to support applications in drug discovery and development, clinical research, forensic toxicology, petrochemical, environmental analysis, and food safety.
Phenomenex said it will continue to operate as a standalone company within Danaher and retain its namesake brand as well as its workforce and locations.
Headquartered in Torrance, CA, privately held Phenomenex has more than 700 employees and operates in 92 countries, either directly or through distributors.
“Joining Danaher will allow us to maintain the high pace of innovation that our customers and international distributors have come to expect from us,” added Phenomenex CEO Fasha Mahjoor. “This is our opportunity to further expand our R&D activities, benefit our customers with a more diversified product portfolio, and reinforce our market leadership.”
Phenomenex will join Danaher’s life sciences portfolio of businesses, which include SCIEX, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, Pall, Leica Microsystems, and Molecular Devices.
The acquisition is expected to close by year’s end, Phenomenex said, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Ross Muken, an analyst with Evercore ISI, estimated in a note to investors that Phenomenex generates about $200 million in annual revenues—and that Danaher shelled out more than $700 million for Phenomenex in a “remarkably attractive” deal, The Fly reported.
That would make Phenomenex the smallest of Danaher’s recent acquisitions. Danaher last month disclosed it was buying Cepheid for approximately $4 billion, and last year completed its $13.8 billion acquisition of Pall.
Also last year, Danaher signaled a narrower science and technology focus—but a greater concentration in life sciences businesses—by announcing the spinout of its Test & Measurement segment, Industrial Technologies segment (except its Product Identification platform), and Retail/Commercial Petroleum platform through the creation of a new entity, Fortive Corp. That spinout was completed in July.
Since the mid-1980s, Danaher has carried out an ongoing company-wide improvement effort based on lean manufacturing and anchored on a common culture and operating system, called the Danaher Business System (DBS), focused on people, plans, processes, and performance.
“We look forward to supporting the Phenomenex team in leveraging DBS tools for growth and welcoming them to our Life Sciences team,” added Danaher evp Dan Daniel.
