Life-sciences company Danaher Corp. has stopped pursuing Catalent Inc. after expressing interest in buying the contract manufacturer, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Life-sciences company Danaher Corp. has stopped pursuing Catalent Inc. after expressing interest in buying the contract manufacturer, according to people familiar with the matter.
Danaher is no longer considering a takeover offer, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. Danaher had made overtures to Catalent valuing it at a significant premium, Bloomberg News reported in February.
While Danaher’s interest has cooled, it could always opt to revive an offer, one of the people said. A deal between the two would create a giant in bioprocessing, or using living cells to create drugs or therapies.
A representative for Catalent declined to comment, while a representative for Danaher didn’t immediately comment.
Catalent fell 1.8% to $45.48 at 2:32 p.m. in New York trading Monday, giving it a market value of about $8.2 billion. Danaher rose 0.6% to $253.06, for a market value of about $184 billion.
Shares in Somerset, New Jersey-based Catalent, which helps drug companies develop and manufacture medicines and vaccines, tumbled 27% — their most ever — after the company said last week its financial results will be “materially and adversely” hurt by higher-than-expected costs and production constraints at three plants.
Catalent last week also said Thomas Castellano would step down as chief financial officer and that Ricky Hopson would take over while the company searches for a permanent CFO.
Danaher has become a life sciences-focused company since spinning out its industrial business arm Fortive Corp. in 2016. It’s a leader in providing bioprocessing tools and instruments used to manufacture and research complex drugs. Known as a serial acquirer, its latest major deal was its 2021 purchase of Aldevron for $9.6 billion.
(Updates trading in fifth paragraph)
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