PerkinElmer Buys BioLegend for $5.25 Billion in Cash, Stock

(Bloomberg) -- PerkinElmer Inc. agreed to buy BioLegend, a privately held maker of biomedical research tools for Covid-19 and other illnesses, for about $5.25 billion in shares and cash.

The acquisition, the largest-ever for Waltham, Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer, is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to regulatory approvals, the companies said in a statement Monday.

Research tools such as antibodies have become key to the study of Covid as the pandemic has spread around the world, driving PerkinElmer’s shares up almost 70% since the beginning of last year. BioLegend provides antibodies and reagents for biomedical research to laboratories at universities and pharma companies studying cells, proteins and genetics.

PerkinElmer shares gained 2.3% at 9:40 a.m. Monday in New York.

The purchase is PerkinElmer’s latest in a string of deals that includes Sirion Biotech GmbH, a provider of viral-vector technologies, last month and Nexcelom Bioscience in May. It’s part of a “continuing journey” of PerkinElmer’s transformation, Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar said in a note.

With more than 700 employees, mostly in the U.S., BioLegend is expected to generate sales of about $380 million in 2022, according to the statement. BioLegend’s campus in San Diego will become PerkinElmer’s center for development of substances used in research analysis, called reagents, and it will expand the company into new segments, the statement said.

Goldman Sachs Bank USA is providing bridge financing to PerkinElmer for the cash portion of the purchase, which is expected to provide an estimated 30 cents of adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after the sale closes and more than 50 cents in the second, according to the statement.

Goldman Sachs & Co. is exclusive financial adviser to PerkinElmer for the deal. WilmerHale is serving as legal counsel, and McDermott Will & Emery as antitrust counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is BioLegend’s financial advisor, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is its legal counsel.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.