Caliper completes Zymark purchase

Caliper Technologies has completed its acquisition of Zymark, a privately held provider of laboratory automation, liquid handling and robotics systems to the life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

The purchase, valued at $71 million (€61m) in cash and stock, will provide an immediate lift to Caliper's earnings and help it to achieve profitability in 2005, said James Knighton, the firm's chief financial officer. Zymark's revenues in 2002 were $65.4 million.

Caliper is expecting the combination of its lab-on-a-chip technologies with Zymark's businesses to give it a boost into new areas such as analytical biochemistry, diagnostics, genetic analysis and genomics/proteomics.

Earlier this year, Caliper itself had to fend off a takeover bid of $110 million from Little Bear Investments, which specialises in buying vulnerable companies; the company's burn rate is currently running at around $35 million a year and at this level its cash reserves would last just over two years.

The new company will be headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Zymark's chief executive, Kevin Hrusovsky, will become the new CEO. Caliper's current CEO, Michael Knapp, takes on the role of chief technical officer of the new entity, while Knighton retains his role as CFO during the transition period and Dan Kisner remains as Caliper's chairman.