Sigma-Aldrich completes acquisition of BioReliance

Sigma-Aldrich has completed its acquisition of BioReliance Holdings from Avista Capital Partners for $350 million in cash, subject to normal post-closing adjustments. 

BioReliance is a provider of biopharmaceutical testing services - including biologic, specialised toxicology and animal health testing - to pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, diagnostics and other life science customers worldwide. The company employs over 650 people and is headquartered in Maryland, USA, with additional operations in Glasgow and Stirling, Scotland, and sales offices in Tokyo, Japan, and Bangalore, India.

“BioReliance’s global biopharmaceutical testing services will enable Sigma-Aldrich to build a specialised services platform that complements our existing products and technology strengths. It will expand our participation in the fast-growing biological drug market and will help forge deeper and stronger strategic ties with existing and new customers,” said Rakesh Sachdev, President and CEO of Sigma-Aldrich.

BioReliance will become part of SAFC, the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich. Gilles Cottier, SAFC President, commented, “The combination of BioReliance and SAFC provides a richer value proposition for the development and manufacture of biological drugs. By leveraging SAFC’s industrial media presence and BioReliance’s biological testing services, we can provide new and better end-to-end product solutions and services to our biopharmaceutical customers.”

BioReliance generated revenues of about $110 million during 2010, with double-digit growth expected for 2011. The acquisition is expected to be modestly accretive to Sigma-Aldrich’s diluted earnings per share in 2012.