Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) is reviewing two bids in a
corporate takeover that has pitted a consortium of some of the
world's largest buyout firms against medical-equipment maker Thermo
Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO), according to people familiar with the
matter.
The buyout group, which includes Blackstone Group LP (BX),
Carlyle Group LP (CG), KKR & Co. (KKR) and Singapore's state
investment company Temasek Holdings, has made an offer of around
$65 a share, the people said. It is unclear what Thermo Fisher
bid.
The bids were an opening salvo and could change in
negotiations.
If a deal is struck, it would be one of the year's largest.
Life, with a stock market value of about $11.3 billion, has seen
its shares rise 17% since the Carlsbad, Calif., company said in
January that it had hired bankers to help it explore strategic
options.
Shares closed Wednesday up 0.6%, or 39 cents, at $66.58.
Life's board and its advisers are expected to call the suitors
to the negotiating table once they are finished reviewing the
offers, some of the people said. A deal could be struck within
days, they said.
Life sells laboratory supplies, such as reagents and antibodies,
and equipment; it also has a genetic-testing business.
Thermo Fisher is also a maker of medical and laboratory devices
and equipment.
Write to Ryan Dezember at ryan.dezember@wsj.com and Dana
Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires