Universal Biosensors poised for sale

The retirement this week of Mark Morrisson as the CEO of Australian medical diagnostics company Universal Biosensors has triggered speculation throughout the industry that the company may be on the market.

“The fact that he has moved on suggests that UB is up for sale,” said David Blake of Melbourne-based investment advisors Bioshares. “It’s now not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the company is bought.”

One of the more obvious candidates is Johnson and Johnson, which already owns 12 percent of Universal Biosensors. “Universal Biosensors’ blood glucose strips are pretty significant for J&J,” Blake said.

Universal Biosensors also has a joint development partnership in Australia with J&J’s global subsidiary LifeScan. The two companies launched LifeScan OneTouch Verio, an Australian developed blood glucose management system for diabetics, in Australia last week. In January the product entered the European market for the first time following its launch in the Netherlands.

A spokesperson for Johnson and Johnson Australia said that the company did not comment on market speculation.

Other possible suitors include CM Capital and Principals Cornerstone Fund, both also shareholders in Universal Biosensors.

In announcing his departure this week, Morrison said in a statement to the ASX that now LifeScan OneTouch Verio was up and running in Australia and in Europe, Universal Biosensors has completed a “transformational step in its development”, and that a “different set of skills was now more appropriate to facilitate the further growth”.

An international executive search has begun to replace Morrisson. Meanwhile Universal Biosensors chairman Andrew Denver will assume the role of executive chairman and interim CEO.

Universal Biosensors had not returned calls from ALS by the time of publication.

The company’s shares rose two cents today to close at $1.53.