NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – MDS has called a meeting to win the nod of its shareholders for the sale of its MDS Analytical Technologies business to Danaher for $650 million, MDS said today.
In the Oct. 20 meeting, to be held at the Toronto Congress Centre, the company's board will propose for a vote selling the Analytical Technologies business, which includes its share in a mass spectrometry joint venture with Life Technologies. MDS said that its board "believes the proposed sale of MDS Analytical Technologies to Danaher is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders, and unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the sale."
As GenomeWeb Daily News reported this week, MDS' divestiture of the Analytical Technologies business is part of a broader strategic positioning, in which the company will focus entirely on its MDS Nordion business, which provides medical isotopes for molecular and diagnostic imaging. In addition to selling MDS Analytical Technologies, the firm also is looking for a buyer for its MDS Pharma Services division.
In total, Danaher agreed to spend $1.1 billion on the three-way transaction. Life Technologies is set to receive $450 million for its share of the mass spec joint venture.