Thermo Fisher, Danaher Among Firms Eyeing KKR's LGC
Thermo Fisher, Danaher Among Firms Eyeing KKR's LGC
(Bloomberg) -- KKR & Co.’s potential sale of British scientific measurement and testing company LGC Group has attracted initial interest from suitors including Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
Blackstone Group Inc., Carlyle Group LP, CVC Capital Partners and EQT Partners are also weighing offers for the business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. LGC could fetch more than $2 billion including debt in a sale, the people said.
Suitors expect KKR to send out a so-called information memorandum later this month with preliminary information on the business, the people said.
Deliberations are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty the suitors will proceed with firm bids, the people said. Representatives for Blackstone, CVC, EQT, KKR and Thermo Fisher declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Carlyle said she couldn’t immediately comment, while representatives for Danaher didn’t respond to requests for comment.
KKR is working with advisers as it looks for ways to exit its holding in the business, which it bought in 2016, people familiar with the process said previously. The company has made a number of acquisitions since the buyout firm’s investment.
In August, LGC bought a majority stake in Toronto Research Chemicals, a firm that makes chemicals used in reference standards and research. That deal followed its September 2018 acquisition of reagents maker Berry & Associates.
LGC traces its origins to 1842 to a body created in London to regulate tobacco adulteration. It still provides independent chemical and bioanalytical measurements. Previously known as Laboratory of the Government Chemist, the firm was privatized in 1996.
--With assistance from Kristen V. Brown.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net;Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dinesh Nair at dnair5@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson, Ben Scent
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