Thermo Fisher emerges lead contender for Life Technologies: report

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is emerging as the lead contender to buy Life Technologies Corp in an auction that could value the genetic testing maker at as much as $12 billion, Reuters yesterday reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The report said that Thermo Fisher is planning to table a $65 to $70 a share bid for the gene-sequencing equipment maker.

Early last month Bloomberg reported that a consortium comprising private equity firms Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, TPG Capital and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings are exploring an offer for Life Technologies.

The report had added that also in the race are rivals Thermo Fisher Scientific and Danaher Corp, but the high value of Life Technologies is slowing their decision making.

Life Technologies, whose market cap is around $10 billion, may expect an offer of around $12.5 billion including debt.

California-based Life Technologies, which competes with Illumina Inc, had in January said that it is exploring strategic alternatives and had hired Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Co to assist in the process.

But since the announcement, its stock price has surged from $55 per share to close yesterday at $65.75.

Founded in 2008, Life Technologies manufactures molecular diagnostic and research-use only products. Its brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, GIBCO, Ambion, molecular probes products.

The company had 2011 sales of $3.7 billion, employs approximately 10,400 people, markets over 50,000 products in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual properties in the life sciences industry, with approximately 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses.

Last year, its closest rival Illumina Inc had repeatedly rejected a $6.7 billion unsolicited offer from Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG.