GE Made Moves to Acquire Amersham, Paper Said

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (GenomeWeb News) - General Electric is believed to have made an early overture to acquire Amersham -- one day after Amersham announced on its website that it had received a possible takeover bid.

The Wall Street Journal today reported that "people familiar with the situation" said GE made a preliminary approach to acquire Amersham.

The Journal story said GE would be interested in the British medical-technology company primarily for its imaging platforms -- specifically its contrast agents, which are used together with computerized tomography scans, positron emission scans, and magnetic resonance imaging. GE is a leader in these medical-imaging fields.

The paper, citing industry insiders, said this is the second time GE has approached Amersham -- the paper said GE made similar overtures two years ago -- and that the US-based conglomerate was also interested in Amersham's "very appealing revenue stream."

However, the paper said that its sources stressed that "any acquisition of Amersham by GE was a long way off." A spokesman for GE declined to comment. Amersham officials were unable to comment before deadline.

The news comes one day after Amersham quietly remarked on its website that it had received an approach from an unnamed party that "may or may not lead to an offer for the company as a whole."

As GenomeWeb News reported yesterday, the short statement said "no agreement has been reached and a further announcement will be made as appropriate."
  
The 10,000-employee company has a market capitalization of $7.5 billion.