Beckman Coulter, Inc. Announces Sale Of Minority Interest In Agencourt Personal Genomics For About $50 Million In Cash

FULLERTON, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beckman Coulter, Inc. announced today it has entered into an agreement to sell the company's minority interest in Agencourt Personal Genomics (APG), a developer of next generation genetic analysis technologies. This follows from an agreement between APG and Applied Biosystems Group, an Applera Corporation business, announced earlier today, whereby Applied Biosystems will acquire APG subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions. Beckman Coulter acquired shares of APG in conjunction with its acquisition of Agencourt Bioscience in May 2005. Beckman Coulter expects to receive about $50 million in cash from the transaction which is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2006.

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Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum -- from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing -- Beckman Coulter's 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, reported 2005 annual sales of $2.44 billion with 71.5 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits, services and operating-type lease payments. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com.

Contact: Robert Raynor

(714) 773-7620 Director, Investor Relations

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CONTACT: Robert Raynor, Director, Investor Relations of Beckman Coulter,Inc., +1-714-773-7620

Web site: http://www.beckmancoulter.com/