NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – SQI Diagnostic said on Monday that it has agreed to purchase microarray equipment and services firm Scienion for C$15 million ($15.6 million) in cash plus stock.
As part of the deal, SQI will also issue 735,294 shares of its stock.
Based in Germany, Scienion is a microarray equipment and microarray print and development services business. The proposed purchase will further push SQI's entry into the market for technologies for multiplexed protein, antibody, antigen, and molecular microarrays, Toronto-based SQI said.
Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared SQI's SQIDworks platform and IgXPlex celiac qualitative assay.
Among other things, the deal is anticipated to accelerate SQI's commercialization of in vitro diagnostic products; provide it access to Scienion's base of more than 400 customers, many of whom may be potential users of SQI's service offerings and research-use-only and in IVD products; and diversify SQI's revenues and add financial strength.
In 2010, Scienion posted revenues of about C$5 million, SQI said.