NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Millipore will lay off some employees and relocate others as it consolidates manufacturing locations in its Bioprocess Division, the firm disclosed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today.
The Billerica, Mass.-based firm expects to record charges of between $25 million and $30 million related to these efforts. It expects the cuts and relocations to affect around 140 employees.
Of that total, Millipore said that it expects to incur charges of $8 million to $10 million for employee separation costs over the next three quarters, all of which will be in the form of cash termination benefit payments. Another $3 million in costs will be associated with lease terminations on certain facilities. Millipore expects charges of $8 million to $11 million to cover consulting, employee retention, and facility transition costs, as well as roughly $6 million in costs related to accelerated depreciation.
The company expects these activities to be completed by the end of 2010. It believes it will begin to generate cash savings in 2009, and upon completion the firm anticipates savings of between $11 million and $15 million annually.
Millipore has two operating divisions: Bioprocess, which serves biopharmaceutical customers, and Bioscience, which sells the firm’s research tools. The Bioprocess Division has been struggling to grow revenue for the past few quarters.
At the end of July, the company reported that its second-quarter revenues were flat year over year, excluding an 8 percent benefit from currency translation. Including currency translation, the Bioprocess Division managed only 1 percent growth to $229.8 million for the quarter.
Martin Madaus, chairman and CEO of Millipore, said in a statement at the time that the Bioprocess Division “continues to be adversely affected by reduced purchases from a handful of our largest North American biotech customers.”
He added that the firm does “not anticipate spending from these large, US biotech customers will stabilize until the end of 2008.”