General Electric said on Monday that it would acquire a gene modulation and magnetic beads business from Thermo Fisher Scientific for about $1.06 billion.
The units will become part of GE Healthcare, and help the industrial conglomerate offer new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics as part of its expanding life sciences business. Last year, the businesses had combined revenue of $250 million.
G.E. is focusing on its health care offerings as it pivots toward high-technology businesses with good growth potential and attractive margins.
“Life Sciences is one of our strongest and fastest-growing business areas, driven by the world’s demand for improved diagnostics and new, safer medicines,†John Dineen, chief executive of GE Healthcare, said in a statement. “This deal makes a good business even better and will help us realize our vision of bringing better health care to more people at lower cost.â€
The cell culture business that G.E. is acquiring, called HyClone, is used to manufacture vaccines and drugs that treat diseases including cancer and arthritis. GE Healthcare already has a cell biology business doing related work.
The gene modulation business G.E. is acquiring fits with existing drug discovery work the company does, and the magnetic beads unit will help G.E. in the areas of protein analysis and diagnostics.
The companies expect the deal to close early this year.
