Danaher to Acquire Leica Microsystems

WASHINGTON, July 15 -- Danaher Corp., a Washington-based maker of professional instrumentation, industrial technologies, and tools and components, signed a definitive agreement this month to purchase German-based Leica Microsystems AG from LM Investments S.a r.l. The purchase price amounts to an enterprise value of approximately $550 million, including assumed debt, pension liabilities, transaction costs and net cash acquired.

Based in Wetzlar, Germany, Leica Microsystems is a producer of high-precision optical systems for the analysis of microstructures for markets including microscopy, pathology diagnostics, surgical microscopes, semiconductor wafer defect and inspection and electron-beam lithography systems. The company makes a wide variety of products for applications that require either microscopic visual presentation, measurement, analysis or electron-beam lithography. It has 10 manufacturing facilities located in Europe, China and Singapore, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international dealer network.

H. Lawrence Culp Jr., Danaher’s president and CEO, said, "This transaction makes strong strategic and financial sense for both companies. Leica Microsystems’ technology in high-precision optical instrumentation and its well-known brand will extend Danaher’s Professional Instrumentation segment into life sciences while complementing our existing critical care diagnostics and dental businesses."

The acquisition, subject to regulatory approval and customary conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter.

For more information, visit: www.danaher.com