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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Charles River to purchase Galapagos drug service operations, (NYSE: CRL)

Belgian biotechnology group Galapagos said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its drug discovery service businesses to Charles River Laboratories International for up to 134 million euros ($186.3 million). Galapagos said in a statement that it would be selling BioFocus and Argenta, which provide drug research services for the likes of Boehringer Ingelheim and Genentech.Charles River, which specialises in supplying laboratory services to the pharmaceutical industry, will pay Galapagos 129 million euros, with a further 5 million euros dependent on reaching a revenue target 12 months after the deal is closed.Galapagos said the purchase price represented a multiple of about two times 2013 sales and 12 times adjusted core profit (EBITDA).The Belgian company said that with the sale, expected to be closed early in the second quarter, it had revised its 2014 guidance.

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. is a global provider of solutions, which accelerate the early-stage drug discovery and development process. Shares of CRL traded higher by 3.93% or $2.28/share to $60.33. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $40.28 and as high as $60.72. On average, 568577 shares of CRL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1405752.



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