The US company has agreed to pay $91 million for more than 90 per cent of NovAseptic in an all-cash transaction that comes just days after it bought MicroSafe, a contract microbiological testing company based in the Netherlands, for $9.3 million.
NovAseptic's product range includes its disposable sampling system - NovaSeptum - and a range of mixers, valves, and connectors. These items fit well in Millipore's Bioprocess division, which makes filters and other processing equipment used in the manufacture of biologic drugs.
"As part of our overall growth strategy, the acquisition of NovAseptic accelerates our plan to expand the breadth of our solutions to biotech and pharmaceutical customers, particularly in the areas of high-performance components and process monitoring tools," commented Martin Madaus, Millipore's chief executive.
Millipore said that NovAseptic has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent over the past three years and is expected to generate sales of approximately $35 million in the twelve months following the closing of the transaction.
One of the drivers of this sales growth is the NovaSeptum disposable sampling system. This is unique in the marketplace and allows companies to take fluid samples from their drug manufacturing processes via a closed system, which eliminates the risk of false positives due to biological contaminants, and improves operator productivity and safety.
The US firm expects the transaction to be slightly accretive to earnings per share in 2005 and add at least $0.05 per share in 2006.