Life Technologies, More Bidders
Life Technologies (Ticker: LIFE) is really starting to look interesting here. Reuters is reporting that Roche (Ticker: RHHBY) and KKR + Hellman & Friedman have joined the auction process for Life Technologies. Roche was a name that I did not expect even though they made a run at Illumina (Ticker: ILMN). Now we have a bunch of private equity and strategic players making a run at this company. I believe a deal will happen and if the strategic buyers really go at it, I can see Life Technologies get taken out in the mid 70’s.
posted by Money Turtle @ 9:48 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
MT,
Yes we have been following the news on LIFE and the new bidders. Thats all good news.
BMC Software is in play. There is currently an auction going on and may be competed in a few weeks. Please see the web link below for background. In checking the SEC filings, all of the big guys have positions including BlackRock and Vanguard.
Pressure for the company has been evident, most notably from hedge fun Elliot Management, which last reported a 9.6 percent stake in BMC. Elliot was pushing for a sale last year, but nothing come of it. From waht I can find out BMC has many US Govt. contracts and the sequestor may be impacting future revenues. I think this is still very attractive to the PE buyers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/us-bmcsoftware-idUSBRE92K0R620130321?feedType=RSS&feedName=innovationNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+news%2Fdeals+%28Reuters+Deals+News%29
Regards,
inforesource7
MT,
In regards to Roche's entry into the bidding, given the fact that Roche made a run last year at ILMN for $6.7b which was rejected after ILMN wanted more, how will Roche approach a bid for LIFE which will cost $4b to $5b more than ILMN? this time Roche has other bidders to compete with.
What do you know about Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB)?
Regards,
inforesource7
Roche wants the sequencing biz and Life Technologies has some nice products in that space. They will likely spin off the reagents and the R&D consumables biz (Gibco) if it acquires LIFE.
I took a look at PACB when it was filing to go public. As far as I'm concerned PACB is junk. I'll stay as far away as possible from it.
BMC - It's hard to see a decent premium from a PE buyout after the recent run up. If a strategic name pops up then that changes everything.
MT,
I don't know if you saw this story in Bloomberg but if true things are lining up real nicely for a takeout by a strategic (article did not mention Roche). In any event this would be the best bidding process outcome for Shareholders. There is one fly in the ointment and that is CEO, Lucier. Remember this third party quote in Bloomberg dated 03-06-13.
"While Life has attracted interest from some strategic suitors, Chief Executive Officer Gregory Lucier favors a buyout over a deal with a competitor because he wants to keep the reins, said two people."
So I guess it could come down to what strategic does Lucier like the best or dislike the least?
Is Lucier on the Board of Directors?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-22/life-sale-said-to-shift-to-strategics-as-buyout-firms-go.html
Regards,
inforesource7
Yeah, I did see the article. Interesting to see that KKR dropped out so quickly. Lucier is on the board, he's the chairman. It all comes down to the price, if a strategic bidder offers a compelling price, the board has to act in the shareholders best interest.
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