Charles River Laboratories International ($CRL) expects to boost its position in pharma manufacturing with a $212 million deal to buy Celsis International, a company that specializes in endotoxin and microbial detection (EMD).
Wilmington, MA-based Charles River will pay $212 million in cash for the Chicago-based Celsis. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Charles River is estimating it will achieve $2 million in savings in 2016 as a result of the merger and add $0.15 to $0.20 a share in earnings.
"The acquisition nearly doubles the market opportunity for EMD testing products and services, offering access to the consumer products market in addition to our core biopharmaceutical market," Charles River CEO James Foster said in a statement.
Charles River said it will roll Celsis' rapid microbial detection business into its own Charles River Manufacturing Support which its markets for testing in biopharma and consumer health manufacturing facilities. The company has been on a M&A spree the last couple of years, which helped its manufacturing business grow 10.6% to $62.3 million in the fourth quarter. That helped offset a roughly 4% decline in Charles River's banner research models and services segment.
- here's the announcement