WASHINGTON and TUSCON, Ariz., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Danaher Corporation and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. announced today that they are engaged in discussions regarding a potential, cooperative effort to acquire Vision Systems Limited . VSL is a publicly-traded company headquartered in Australia that designs, manufactures and sells instruments and reagents for the anatomical pathology market.
On August 13, 2006, Ventana announced that it had entered into a merger implementation agreement with VSL. On September 17, 2006, Cytyc Corporation launched a competing takeover offer for VSL. On September 28, 2006, Ventana announced that it had acquired 12% of VSL’s outstanding ordinary shares. Danaher has also previously announced that VSL has allowed it to conduct limited due diligence.
There can be no assurance that Danaher and Ventana will reach an agreement with respect to a cooperative effort to acquire VSL, or that Danaher will make an offer of any nature for VSL.
About Ventana Medical Systems:
Ventana Medical Systems develops, manufactures, and markets instrument/reagent systems that automate slide preparation and staining in anatomical pathology and drug discovery laboratories worldwide. Ventana’s clinical systems are important tools used in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Ventana’s drug discovery systems are used to accelerate the discovery of new drug targets and evaluate the safety of new drug compounds. (http://www.ventanamed.com).
About Danaher Corporation:
Danaher Corporation is a leading manufacturer of Professional Instrumentation, Industrial Technologies, and Tools and Components. (http://www.danaher.com).
Statements in this release that are not strictly historical may be “forward-looking” statements. These forward-looking statements include statements about any discussions between Danaher and Ventana regarding a potential, cooperative offer to acquire VSL or about a competing bid of any nature by Danaher for VSL. There are a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the ability of Danaher and Ventana to negotiate a cooperative offer to acquire VSL, the results of Danaher’s due diligence investigation, the competitive nature of acquisitions, regulatory approvals and potential changes in the environment for making acquisitions and divestitures, including changes in the market value of acquisition candidates as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth in Danaher’s and Ventana’s respective filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and Danaher and Ventana disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statement.
Danaher Corporation
CONTACT: Andy Wilson, Vice President, Investor Relations of DanaherCorporation, +1-202-828-0850; or Christopher M. Gleeson, President and CEO,+1-520-229-3787; or Nick Malden, Chief Financial Officer, +1-520-229-3857,both of Ventana Medical Systems; or For U.S., Andy Brimmer or Jim Golden,both of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, +1-212-355-4449 ext 111; orFor Australia, Tim Duncan, Hintons, +61-3-9600-1979
