Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX) said yesterday that it agreed to deal its stake in the Procleix blood-screening business it runs with Grifols (NSDQ:GRFS) for nearly $1.9 billion.
Hologic, which makes the Procleix line, said it’s selling its stake for $1.85 billion to Barcelona-based Grifols, which sells the molecular assays and instruments. Blood banks use the products to screen donated blood for viruses such as HIV, hepatitis C and B, West Nile and Zika.
The deal confers the rights to the patents behind the Procleix line and the transfer of Hologic’s 175-worker plant outside San Diego in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., the companies said. Marlborough, Mass.-based Hologic is due to keep the rights to the Tigris and Panther systems but said it’s set to work with its Spanish partner to develop new screening instruments. Grifols inked a deal in 2013 to acquire its share in the business from Novartis (NYSE:NVS) for $1.68 billion.
“Divesting our share of our blood screening business to Grifols will strengthen our efforts to build a sustainable-growth company by accelerating top- and bottom-line growth rates, while significantly increasing financial flexibility,” Hologic chairman, president & CEO Steve MacMillan said in prepared remarks. “We are immensely proud of the contributions we have made to global blood safety over nearly 20 years. But at the same time, we believe that the business and our blood screening employees are best positioned to succeed under a single owner, and that this sale to Grifols provides excellent value for Hologic and our shareholders.”
“This acquisition is part of the growth strategy foreseen for the diagnostic division. It is an obvious step that allows us to strengthen a leading position that we first achieved in 2014 in transfusion diagnostics with the acquisition of assets from Novartis, which, among other things, included the rights to market transfusion medicine assays and instruments using NAT technology. The transaction enabled us to enhance our capabilities to be 1 of the only companies capable of offering comprehensive solutions to blood and plasma donation centers, from donation to transfusion. Now, with this new transaction, we have contributed our vertical integration process as we also have control over the production and R&D phases,” added Grifols chairman & CEO Victor Grífols Sr. “This is the last acquisition that I announce as CEO. This agreement caters to the interests of both companies and is the result of a path of joint collaboration with the CEOs that will succeed me in office from January 2017, the result of a dedicated management team, and of Hologic, a strategic partner of Grifols since 2014. With this transaction Grifols remains as the largest Spanish investor in the U.S.”
Hologic said its share of the blood-screening business was forecast to put up adjusted earnings of 34¢ per share on sales of roughly $240 million in fiscal 2017. The deal is slated to close during the 1st quarter next year.
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