Biohit Oyj Sells Liquid Handling Business to Sartorius

Biohit Oyj's (Helsinki, Finland) liquid handling business has been sold to Sartorius Lab Holding GmbH (Gottingen, Germany). The purchase price was EUR 68 million. Following the sale's completion, Biohit Oyj is revising its outlook on short-term risks and uncertainty factors.

The transaction was subject to approval by Biohit’s shareholders and by the authorities. Upon the sale's completion, Biohit’s liquid handling business has been transferred to Sartorius, including the associated intellectual property rights, production facilities, subsidiaries, other property, agreements, and certain responsibilities. All assets of the liquid handling segment of Biohit Oyj, including its production facilities in Finland and China, as well as its sales subsidiaries in eight countries have been transferred to Sartorius.

With its liquid handling segment, Biohit is one of the global market leaders for mechanical and electronic pipettes, as well as for the associated consumables.
This deal will enable Sartorius to expand its product portfolio with an important component in the area of laboratory instruments, which currently includes lab balances, lab water-purification systems, moisture analyzers, and sample preparation consumables.

The employees and management team of the liquid handling business transferred to the new owner on their existing terms of employment. Biohit’s current President and CEO, Jussi Heiniö, transferred to Sartorius as part of the transaction.

The diagnostics employees and the diagnostics business-management team will remain in the service of Biohit Oyj. The composition of the Biohit Board of Directors will remain unchanged.

After the sale of the liquid handling business, the company is in a much better position to invest in the business prerequisites of its diagnostics business and to strengthen the sales channels and marketing of its products. In addition, the company clarified its product commercialization plans and decided to prioritize certain market areas.

Previously, the company conducted a large part of its business in currencies other than the euro. However, since most trade in the diagnostics business is conducted in euro, exchange rate fluctuations will not have as great an impact on the company's result as before.

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Sartorius Lab Holding GmbH