By David Carnevali
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Danaher Corp is in the lead to acquire Abcam Plc, a provider of supplies to life science researchers with a market value of $5.1 billion, as it expands its biomedical offerings, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Abcam believes that Danaher’s all-cash offer is superior to a rival bid from Agilent Technologies Inc, the sources said.
The exact price that Danaher is offering could not be learned. One of the sources said the deal price would be close to Abcam’s current valuation, given that its stock has already risen close to 20% after Bloomberg News reported on June 16 that the company was fielding takeover interest.
If the negotiations conclude successfully, a deal could be announced as early as next week, the sources said, cautioning that no agreement is certain and that the outcome could still change. They asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
Abcam, Danaher and Agilent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Based in Cambridge, England, Abcam supplies antibodies, reagents and other products used in medical research. The company serves roughly 750,000 research scientists at academic, research, government and biopharmaceutical organisations.
(Reporting by David Carnevali in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis)
