Private-equity giant KKR & Co LP (KKR) is looking to form a competing consortium to float a bid to acquire biotechnology company Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE), according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday. KKR has been discussing a joint bid with Advent International Corp., but has since pulled out of the talks.
Reports earlier stated that a consortium including private-equity firms Blackstone Group LP (BX), Carlyle Group (CG), TPG Capital LP and Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings Ltd. is considering a joint bid for Life Technologies.
Meanwhile, rivals Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc (TMO) and Danaher Corp. (DHR) are also considering individual bids for Life Technologies, but the very size of a potential leveraged buyout in slowing their decision on a bid.
A potential deal in excess of $12.5 billion, including debt, is only expected to win approval of the company's board and shareholders. All the talks are still preliminary and an offer may finally never be made.
Carlsbad, California-based Life Technologies is in the midst of a strategic review that was announced in mid-January. The company retained Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. and Moelis & Company LLC to assist in the process. However, no specific course of action was decided.
All the more due to the company's stock rising 26 percent already in 2013 on news of a potential buyout. Bain Capital LLC was also said to be in the fray, and other potential buyers are also expected to come up.
Life Technologies provides reliable and easy-to-use solutions spanning the biological spectrum with more than 50,000 products for translational research, molecular medicine and diagnostics, stem cell-based therapies, forensics, food safety and animal health. The company generated sales of $3.8 billion in 2012.
LIFE closed Monday's regular trading session at $61.11, up $0.43 or 0.71% on a volume of 0.72 million shares. The stock surged a further $3.89 or 6.37% in after-hours trading.
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