(By Balaseshan) Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE:CRL) said it has purchased a provider of cGMP-compliant contract microbial identification testing Accugenix Inc. for about $17 million in cash.
The acquisition is expected to be neutral to earnings per share on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis in 2012. In 2013, it is expected to represent about 1% of total net sales and be slightly accretive to both GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share.
This acquisition strengthens Charles River's Endotoxin and Microbial Detection (EMD) portfolio of products and services by providing clients with state-of-the-art microbial detection services for manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical, medical device, nutraceutical and consumer care industries.
"The acquisition of Accugenix is the first step in our broader strategy to become the premier provider of rapid microbial and endotoxin detection products and services to the biopharmaceutical industry," said James Foster, Chief Executive of Charles River.
Over the next several years, Charles River plans to enhance its capabilities through both product extensions and acquisitions. The company expects that execution of this strategy would advance its position as the market leader in endotoxin and microbial detection.
Accugenix focuses in species-level identification and strain typing of bacteria and fungi that are recovered from manufacturing facilities. The company has invested in proprietary library databases which allow it to identify over 5,000 species of organisms.
Utilizing state-of-the-art and proprietary in vitro technologies, coupled with scientific expertise and analysis, Accugenix excels in providing accurate, time-effective and cost-effective microbial identification services required to meet internal quality standards and government regulations.
CRL is trading up 0.11% at $36.35 on Wednesday. The stock has been trading between $25.52 and $37.56 for the past 52 weeks.