Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher Scientific is a behemoth in the area of laboratory research products, featuring a wide range of stem cell product lines. As cited in the press release below, the company announced January 8th, 2016, that it will be acquiring the Affymetrix, a company based in Santa Clara, California, that manufactures DNA microarrays. The move will expand Thermo Fisher Scientific’s portfolio of “premier brands” that include Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Service, among many others.
While a purchase price of $1.3 billion sounds like a significant acquisition, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a market capitalization of $56.3 billion and revenues of approximately $17 billion, as well as more than 50,000 employees worldwide. Put into context, this is another in a long line of strategic acquisitions by Thermo Fisher Scientific. [Read more…]