!%Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.%!, based in Waltham, Mass., and !%3722%%Dionex Corp.%! of Sunnyvale, Calif., have announced that their boards of directors have approved a transaction under which the Massachusetts company will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dionex for $118.50 per share in cash, or a total purchase price of approximately $2.1 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year. The acquisition will create a leading chromatography offering by adding Dionex’s ion and liquid chromatography portfolio to Thermo Fisher’s existing chromatography capabilities and will strengthen the software growth platform by combining Dionex’s chromatography data system with Thermo Fisher’s laboratory information management systems.