Thermo to Acquire FEI Company

Thermo Fisher Scientific and FEI Company have announced that their boards of directors have unanimously approved Thermo Fisher’s acquisition of FEI for $107.50 per share in cash. The transaction represents a purchase price of approximately $4.2 billion.

FEI designs, manufactures and supports high-performance electron microscopy workflows that provide images and information at micro-, nano- and picometer scales. Through its industry-leading offering, FEI enables customers across life sciences and materials science markets to make breakthrough discoveries and increase productivity. Based in Hillsboro, Oregon, FEI has more than 3,000 employees worldwide and maintains R&D, sales and manufacturing operations primarily in Europe and the U.S. The business, which had 2015 revenues of $930 million, will become part of Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Instruments Segment.

“The addition of FEI’s leading electron microscopy platform is an outstanding strategic fit with our company and will create significant value for our customers and our shareholders,” said Marc N. Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. “In life sciences, there is growing adoption of electron microscopy to study the structure of proteins. The technologies we gain with FEI will complement our mass spectrometry leadership, putting Thermo Fisher in the best position to capitalize on this important trend. As the unrivaled leader in life sciences, we will also be able to leverage our global scale and commercial reach to extend the use of FEI’s products within our large biopharma customer base. Finally, the transaction will be immediately accretive to our earnings and will create value for our shareholders through cost and revenue synergies.”

Don Kania, president and chief executive officer of FEI, said, “We are pleased to reach this agreement with Thermo Fisher, which offers a number of important benefits to FEI shareholders, customers and employees. Our shareholders will see substantial and immediate value through the terms of this transaction. Our customers will benefit from the shared commitment Thermo Fisher and FEI have to innovation and customer service. And our employees will see new opportunities as our development and market expansion plans accelerate by being part of Thermo Fisher, a large and growing company. Fundamentally, this transaction bolsters our already strong position in the marketplace and allows us to play an increasing role in enabling our customers to accelerate breakthrough discoveries, increase productivity and provide solutions to global challenges.”

Casper concluded, “We are very excited to welcome our new colleagues from FEI to the Thermo Fisher team and look forward to realizing the significant benefits of the transaction for all our key stakeholders. FEI’s commitment to R&D, strong IP foundation, and excellent services and software offerings are a great fit with our Analytical Instruments business and will create exciting new opportunities to drive growth.”