Fisher acquires Cellomics for $49M

Fisher Scientific International Inc. has acquired Cellomics Inc., a developer of technology for automated compound screening, for about $49 million in cash. Cellomics, founded in 1996, had 2004 revenues of approximately $13 million. Fisher, which makes lab equipment, supplies, as well as safety, healthcare, chemical and food safety products, has significant operations in the Pittsburgh area, including subsidiaries Fisher Research, Fisher Safety and Fisher Laboratory, as well as Fisher Clinical Services in Allentown, Pa.

Cellomics Inc. founder D. Lansing Taylor said that the $49 million deal to buy out Cellomics had been in the works for about six to eight months, and that the company had been for sale for a couple of years. Taylor said he, CEO Daniel Calvo and other investors were ready for an "exit." Initial public offerings, once so popular with superhot technology and biotech companies in the late 1990s and 2000, are now a thing of the past, Taylor said.

Details:

• Pittsburgh Business Times
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Business Wire via Yahoo Finance