Bio-Techne Acquires Novus Biologicals for $60M

• MINNEAPOLIS, July 2, 2014  Bio-Techne said Wednesday it closed on its $60 million cash acquisition of Novus Biologicals, a deal designed to expand the buyer’s antibody business while complementing its operations in developing and manufacturing purified proteins.
  Novus maintains portfolios of both outsourced and in-house developed antibodies and other reagents among its offerings of more than 250,000 products, delivered via its own digital commerce platform. That’s more than 10 times the 24,000 products in Bio-Techne’s portfolio, which during the 2013 fiscal year accounted for about $311 million in net sales.
  Novus is the second company to be acquired in less than a month by Bio-Techne. On June 17, Bio-Techne shelled out $300 million for ProteinSimple, whose Western blot products are among its offerings of systems and consumables designed to simplify protein analysis workflows.
  Bio-Techne said the Novus deal will enable it to access antibodies for potential inclusion in new assays and kits, as well as for instruments the acquiring company said it intends to bring to market after it completes the deal.
  Bio-Techne also said it expects to draw upon Novus' digital marketing capability and management team as it expands its offerings—notably cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, immunoassays and biologically active small molecule compounds, all sold to biomedical researchers and clinical research laboratories.
  Bio-Techne is the common brand name under which Techne brought its R&D Systems, BiosPacific, Tocris Biosciences, Boston Biochem and Bionostics products earlier this year. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis and has more than 1,000 employees worldwide.
  "This acquisition is consistent with our mission to expand our products offering and ensure that our customers are being served in the most complete fashion with the best quality reagents," Bio-Techne President and CEO Charles R. Kummeth said in a statement.
  Added Novus’ CEO Karen Padgett: “The combined business will represent a unique one-stop-shop for our world-wide customers."
  Bio-Techne said it will retain Padgett and another Novus executive, Dave Eansor, who serves as svp, corporate development.
  Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm based in San Francisco, has been the sole investor in Novus since 2008.

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/bio-techne-acquires-novus-biologicals-for-60m/81250060/

MINNEAPOLIS, July 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) (d/b/a Bio-Techne) announced today that it has acquired Novus Biologicals for $60 million in cash. The transaction was financed with cash on hand.
Novus Biologicals is a Littleton, Colorado-based supplier of a large portfolio of both outsourced and in-house developed antibodies and other reagents for life science research. Their collection of greater than 250,000 high-quality products delivered through an innovative digital commerce platform provides customers a unique, one-stop shopping experience.
Bio-Techne is a leading developer and manufacturer of purified proteins -- notably cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, immunoassays and biologically active small molecule compounds which are sold to biomedical researchers and clinical research laboratories. Novus Biologicals is an excellent complement to the expanding Bio-Techne portfolio of products and its addition is consistent with Bio-Techne's overall goal of providing customers the most comprehensive product line for their research needs. More specifically, Novus adds strength to Bio-Techne's antibody business and provides access to a wide range of high quality antibody content for potential inclusion in new assays and kits, as well as for use with instruments Bio-Techne intends to offer following completion of a pending acquisition transaction. In addition, Bio-Techne expects to leverage Novus' excellent digital marketing capability and their strong management team.
Charles R. Kummeth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Techne, commented, "This acquisition is consistent with our mission to expand our products offering and ensure that our customers are being served in the most complete fashion with the best quality reagents. Over the years the R&D Systems brand has developed a strong reputation for quality reagents for life science research through its protein, antibody and immunoassay product lines. We appreciate the fact that customers' reagent needs change and Bio-Techne wants their first choice to be a Bio-Techne branded product when selecting a supplier of reagents for their experimentation. Therefore, an expansion of our antibody portfolio was a logical step in our long term strategic business plan. We are eager to adopt the digital commercial platforms that Novus Biologicals has perfected over the years to accelerate the growth of our overall business."
Novus Biologicals Chief Executive Officer, Karen Padgett, commented, "We are delighted to partner with Bio-Techne since we see this as a strategically good fit. Both Novus Biologicals and Bio-Techne have a desire to improve life science research by providing customers with the widest array of technical solutions and tools. The combined business will represent a unique one-stop-shop for our world-wide customers."
The Novus Biologicals leadership team, Karen Padgett, and Dave Eansor will remain in place. Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm based in San Francisco, has been the sole investor in Novus Biologicals since 2008.

For full article in Wall St Journal  http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140702-909861.html