Bruker said today it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Hain Lifescience for an undisclosed price, in a deal that aligns with the buyer’s goals of expanding its presence in the infectious disease and molecular diagnostics markets.
Based in Nehren, Germany, Hain is a developer of infectious disease molecular diagnostics whose solutions are designed to detect microbial and viral pathogens—especially tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections—as well as test for antibiotic resistance and human genetic diseases.
Hain’s offerings include consumables and instruments for DNA sample preparation, the GenoType assay portfolio for tuberculosis detection, for sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing, and for HIV viral load testing, as well as for other infectious disease and human genetic disease MDx tests.
Additionally, Hain has developed the new Fluorocycler XT, a real-time PCR system with a proprietary, novel assay format for Liquid Array syndromic panels. The Liquid Array assays are expected to enable cost-effective syndromic panel analysis in central laboratories. The first Liquid Array assay will be the FluoroType MTBDR 2.0 for detecting the M. tuberculosis complex, including its drug resistances against rifampicin and isoniazid, with CE-IVD labeling expected before year’s end.
According to Bruker, Hain is profitable and expects to generate about $38 million in revenues this year.
“As part of the Bruker microbiology and diagnostics business, we will be able to drive our business to the next level,” David Hain and Tobias Hain, co-founders of Hain Lifescience, said in a statement.
“We believe that this offers fundamentally the right environment and culture for the Hain innovations in infectious disease testing and molecular diagnostics, and we are committed to the further profitable growth of our business under the Bruker umbrella,” added the Hains, who are brothers and will both continue with Bruker as managing directors.
Expanding its presence in the infectious disease and molecular diagnostics markets is part of Bruker's ongoing transformation of its product portfolio, dubbed Project Accelerate and launched earlier this year to achieve faster growth and continued multi-year margin expansion. Project Accelerate consists of initiatives in microbiology and diagnostics, as well as five other areas—proteomics and Phenomics, biopharma and applied, neuroscience and cell microscopy, next-gen nanotechnology tools, and after-market services, software, and consumables.
“Hain is a great fit for Bruker's Microbiology & Diagnostics business, which is one of the key drivers for our Project Accelerate,” stated Bruker President and CEO Frank Laukien. “We anticipate that together with Hain we can bring significant innovation to real-time PCR instruments, and to next-generation, fast and affordable Liquid Array syndromic panels.”
Bruker said it does not expect the transaction to have any material impact on Bruker's 2018 non-GAAP operating margin expansion and earnings per share (EPS) guidance. Bruker revised that guidance on August 2 by lowering its revenue growth projection for this year from approximately 7%, including organic revenue growth of approximately 3%; to approximately 6.5%, with organic revenue growth of approximately 3.5%.
In 2019, Bruker anticipates the Hain majority-stake acquisition will add to its non-GAAP EPS by $0.01-$0.02. Bruker has kept unchanged its guidance calling for non-GAAP EPS of between $1.34 and $1.38, up 11% to 14% from 2017.
The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals
