LabCorp Acquires Sequenom for $302 Million, Assumption of Debt

By Ron Shinkman, Editor, Laboratory Industry Report

LabCorp has announced plans to acquire esoteric laboratory Sequenom for $302 million in cash and an assumption of about $69 million in debt.

Sequenom, which is based in San Diego, specializes in neonatal and other reproductive testing. It is best known for its MaterniT prenatal genomic test. It had revenue of $128.3 million in 2015 and $151.6 million in 2014, due primarily to the shifting of some overseas sales.

LabCorp will commence the deal through a firm it has created specifically for the transaction: Savoy Acquisition Corp. It will be used to acquire Sequenom shares for $2.40 a share.

The purchase price is roughly a 180 percent premium over its trading price of about 85 cents a share prior to the announcement of the transaction.

“This is exactly the kind of strategic acquisition that LabCorp seeks: Sequenom was the first laboratory to offer a clinically validated NIPT test and has performed more than 500,000 tests to date. Sequenom’s proven best-in-class technology and strong research complement LabCorp’s extensive women’s health offering, providing patients and physicians with one source for the most complete range of testing options in women’s health, including NIPT and reproductive genetics,” said LabCorp CEO Dave King in a statement. “Sequenom expands LabCorp’s geographic reach both domestically and internationally, offering services through licensing and commercial partnerships with an emphasis on the European Union and Asia Pacific. The addition of Sequenom to the LabCorp family meets our stated financial criteria, and creates a market leader in NIPT, women’s health and reproductive genetics.”