Danaher Snaps up Aldevron for $9.6B; Shares Spike 5%

Shares of Danaher Corporation (DHR) jumped 5% on June 17 to close at $257.08 after the company inked a deal to acquire privately-held Aldevron in an all-cash transaction for $9.6 billion.

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Danaher is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services.

Founded in 1998, Aldevron, a manufacturer of high-quality plasmid DNA, mRNA, and proteins, serves biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers across research, clinical and commercial applications.

The addition of Aldevron to Danaher’s Life Sciences segment will help generate best-in-class products and services and further enable the company to expand in the area of genomic medicine. (See DHR stock chart on TipRanks)

Danaher plans to fund the deal by utilizing available cash in hand and/or issuance of commercial paper. The acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvals.

Danaher CEO Rainer M. Blair commented, “We are thrilled to have Aldevron join Danaher’s Life Sciences segment. For nearly 25 years, Aldevron has made tremendous contributions to the advancement of cell, gene and other novel therapies and vaccines. This acquisition will expand our capabilities into the important field of genomic medicine and help us support our customers and their critical mission to bring more life-saving therapies and vaccines to market faster.”

Jefferies analyst Brandon Couillard recently reiterated a Buy rating and a price target of $290 (12.8% upside potential) on the stock.

Following a chat with Danaher’s CFO Matt McGrew, Couillard commented that the company’s Cepheid franchise has not witnessed any change in demand for its COVID PCR test and believes it remains well-positioned to gain market share.

Overall, the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 9 Buys and 1 Hold. The DHR average analyst price target of $291.80 implies 13.5% upside potential from current levels.