Dive Brief:
- Thermo Fisher Scientific has struck a deal to sell its microbiology business to private equity firm Astorg for $1.08 billion.
- The buyout, which Thermo Fisher disclosed Monday, will see Astorg take over a unit that sells antimicrobial susceptibility testing and culture media for clinical, pharmaceutical and food safety use.
- Thermo Fisher grew microbiology sales nearly 2% year over year to $645 million last year, but has concluded that selling the unit to generate additional capital is the best way to create value for shareholders.
Dive Insight:
Microbiology is one of five primary businesses in Thermo Fisher’s specialty diagnostics segment. The business sells culture media, collection and transport systems, instruments and consumables to detect pathogens in blood, specimen tests, and quality-control products.
Astorg is buying the microbiology business for about $1.075 billion, consisting of cash and a $50 million seller note. The private equity company plans to run the business as an independent, privately owned platform.
Thermo Fisher CEO Marc Casper said in a statement that the deal reflects “our active management of the company and provides additional capital we can deploy to create shareholder value.”
Thermo Fisher expects the deal to close in the second half of the year.
The microbiology business has about 2,400 employees and operates 13 manufacturing and R&D sites globally. Astorg plans to work with the acquired business’ leadership team to scale the company, focusing on accelerating growth and enhancing operational performance. M&A is part of Astorg’s vision for growing the business.
Currently, the business has over 95% of recurring revenues from approximately 15,000 customers. The customers run more than 38,000 labs in over 100 countries. Astorg has identified trends such as rising quality control requirements across the pharmaceutical industry that could benefit the company.
The business competes for the clinical microbiology market with companies including bioMérieux, which said it had a 40% share of the sector in 2024. Waters, which acquired microbiology products in its takeover of BD’s biosciences business, and Danaher are also active in the clinical microbiology market. Thermo Fisher competes with companies including bioMérieux for the industrial microbiology market.
