Danaher to acquire Leica Microsystems

JULY 6--Danaher Corporation (Washington, DC;www.danaher.com) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Leica Microsystems AG (Wetzlar, Germany) from LM Investments. The purchase price amounts to an enterprise value of approximately 450 million euros, including assumed debt, pension liabilities, transaction costs, and net of cash acquired. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter.

Danaher expects minimal earnings per share accretion in 2005. Earnings-per-share accretion in 2006 is expected to be approximately 0.025 euro. H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., Danaher president and chief executive officer, said: "This transaction makes strong strategic and financial sense for both companies. Leica Microsystems' technology in high precision optical instrumentation and its well-known brand will extend Danaher's professional instrumentation segment into life sciences while complementing our existing critical care diagnostics and dental businesses."

Leica Microsystems is a global designer and producer of innovative high-tech precision optical systems for the analysis of microstructures. The company manufactures a broad range of products for numerous applications that require either microscopic visual presentation, measurement, analysis, or electron-beam lithography. It offers system solutions in the areas of life science including biotechnology and medicine, as well as the science of raw materials, industrial quality assurance, and the semiconductor industry.