Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne Corp., which makes biological supplies and machines used in research by the pharmaceutical industry, has acquired a small firm in Georgia called Atlanta Biologicals that makes a bovine-derived serum that promotes cell growth during biotech experiments.
Bio-Techne announced late Tuesday that it has acquired all of the stock of Atlanta Biologicals and its affiliate company Scientific Ventures in a cash transaction. The deal price was not disclosed.
The acquisition is expected to become slightly profitable to Bio-Techne's adjusted earnings per share in the fiscal year that ends in June, the company said.
"Atlanta Biologicals is a great fit with the Bio-Techne product portfolio as we continue to expand our cell culture and tissue regeneration capabilities," Bio-Techne CEO Charles Kummeth said in a news release on the deal.
The news release noted Atlanta Biologicals' fetal bovine serum (FBS) product in particular complemented Bio-Techne's existing offerings in tissue-culture reagents.
The Atlanta Biologicals website notes that the company realized the market potential for FBS because of its ability to promote growth in "virtually any cell culture system," which is why it created a system in which it has direct control over all processes involved with manufacturing FBS from start to finish.
"We believe there is value in providing customers alternative and reliable sources of high quality FBS and other tissue culture reagents," Kummeth said. "Having better tools to study cell behavior in physiologically relevant environments and high quality reagents increases researchers' confidence in the experimental findings."
Bio-Techne stock was up 2.3 percent Wednesday, at $134.49.
