Thermo Fisher to buy lab equipment specialist Dionex for $2.1 billion

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the maker of scientific instruments, yesterday said that it proposes to buy lab equipment specialist Dionex Corp, in a $2.1 billion deal.

Under the deal, Thermo Fischer will pay Dionex shareholders $118.50 per share in cash, a 21 per cent premium to Dionex's closing stock price on 10 December 2010, Thermo Fischer expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2011.

Thermo Fisher expects to realise operating synergies of $60 million in year three following the transaction's close through a combination of cost savings and revenue enhancements.

The deal brings two complementary chromatography portfolios together to create the most extensive chromatography instruments, software and consumables offering in the industry. Specifically, it combines Dionex's ion and liquid chromatography systems and consumables with Thermo Fisher's gas chromatography systems and consumables.

The acquisition will benefit Thermo Fisher from Dionex's significant customer base in attractive applied markets, including environmental analysis, food safety and other industrial sectors. 

Through this combination, Thermo Fisher said that it will be able to deliver unmatched analytical solutions for a growing range of testing needs, particularly water analysis, where growth is driven by new regulatory requirements and increased testing in developing countries such as China.