NEW YORK – Bico Group said on Friday it will acquire sample preparation and liquid handling company QInstruments for €61.25 million ($71 million).
Under the agreement with QInstruments' shareholders, Bico will pay €3 million of the total purchase upon certain revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization milestones being met. Additionally, approximately 13 percent of the purchase price will be paid in newly issued series B shares, with the remainder paid in cash.
QInstruments develops, manufactures, and supplies highly modular and customizable equipment for precision temperature control and molecular sample mixing. Its inclusion in Bico is expected to strengthen the group's diagnostics and omics automation offerings.
The company, headquartered in Jena, Germany, and with 28 employees, is expected to grow 40 percent over the year and to generate approximately $12.53 million of net sales with 45 percent EBIT margin, Bico said.
Its global client network includes Pfizer, Roche, Illumina, Bayer, Merck, and Novartis, among others, who collectively engage in COVID-19 diagnostics, nucleic acid extraction workflows, high-throughput drug screens, and other key genomic and life sciences applications.
QInstruments will remain a standalone company within Bico, operating in the group's bioautomation business area.
"QInstruments leads the industry by developing beautiful, customer centric, sample preparation tools and technologies that is impacting major research areas and making a difference in the results the customers can achieve," Erik Gatenholm, CEO and cofounder of Bico, said in a statement. "Getting the right result in time is the name of the game in life sciences as it impacts the health of the patient in the end. Together, we continue on our journey to democratize critical workflows in advancing healthcare."
Bico has offices in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Boston.