SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Molecular Devices Corporation today announced that it has acquired the Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM) related business of Arcturus Bioscience for $10 million in cash. This strategic acquisition expands Molecular Devices’ life sciences product portfolio to include complete systems and reagents for LCM, which is an important sample preparation technology for genomic and protein analysis. The combination of LCM products with Molecular Devices’ current detection offerings, such as GenePix, broadens Molecular Devices’ life sciences product portfolio and creates complete microgenomics platforms.
Arcturus, founded in 1996, was a pioneer in the field of LCM. The market leading Arcturus LCM platform allows researchers to visualize and selectively excise individual cells or collections of cells from heterogeneous tissue. The selective capture of specific cells through LCM allows researchers to quickly and accurately utilize the smallest and purest cellular samples for further RNA, DNA or protein analysis. The LCM platform includes reagents for preparing the samples for microdissection, instrumentation and consumables for visualization and excision and additional reagents for post-capture processing. Arcturus is the market leader in LCM with over 1,000 systems installed worldwide.
Commenting on the transaction, Dr. Joseph Keegan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Devices, said, “This strategic acquisition allows us to continue to expand our life sciences portfolio by adding additional enabling tools for cellular analysis. We believe that offering LCM systems with our existing genomics and cellular imaging products is a natural fit for our life sciences research customers as LCM is typically an upstream step for genomic or imaging analysis. We also believe that we can improve the distribution of the LCM platform by leveraging our worldwide distribution infrastructure.”
Under the terms of the transaction, Molecular Devices paid $10 million for the LCM-related assets of Arcturus Bioscience and hired 42 former Arcturus employees that were associated with the LCM business. All of the LCM operations and employees will immediately move to Molecular Devices’ headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. Molecular Devices did not obtain any Arcturus facilities in connection with this transaction.
For the remaining 9 months of 2006, Molecular Devices anticipates that this acquisition will increase revenues by $8 to $10 million and increase fully diluted EPS by $0.03 to $0.05. We expect to provide further details on guidance in the Company’s first quarter earnings release and conference call.
About Molecular Devices Corporation
Molecular Devices Corporation is a leading supplier of high-performance bioanalytical measurement systems that accelerate and improve drug discovery and other life sciences research. Molecular Devices’ systems and consumables enable pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to leverage advances in genomics, proteomics and parallel chemistry to facilitate the high-throughput and cost-effective identification and evaluation of drug candidates. Molecular Devices’ solutions are based on its advanced core technologies that integrate its expertise in engineering, molecular and cell biology and chemistry. Molecular Devices enables its customers to improve research productivity and effectiveness, which ultimately accelerates the complex process of discovering and developing new drugs.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements, including statements related to the anticipated improved distribution of the LCM platform, anticipated synergies with existing Molecular Devices platforms and anticipated 2006 revenues. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of Molecular Devices Corporation to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to Molecular Devices’ ability to effectively integrate the acquired business and achieve the anticipated synergies and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Molecular Devices Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
Molecular Devices Corporation
CONTACT: Tim Harkness of Molecular Devices Corporation, +1-408-747-3533
Web site: http://www.moleculardevices.com//
