VIVO - Meridian to be acquired by SD Biosensor SJL Partners for $1.53B

South Korea's SD Biosensor and SJL Partners (Consortium) are acquiring Meridian Bioscience ( NASDAQ: VIVO ) in a $1.53B all-cash deal.

Meridian shareholders will receive $34.00 per share in cash.

Cincinnati-based Meridian — which makes diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal and respiratory infectious diseases — will be acquired by a newly formed affiliate vehicle of the Consortium.

Upon completion of the acquisition, it is expected that SD will own ~60% of Meridian while SJL will own the remaining ~40%.

Meridian will no longer be listed on any public exchange but the Consortium plans to operate Meridian as independent entity and the leadership team and headquarters are expected to remain in place.

"In addition to delivering immediate and significant value to our shareholders, we believe the transaction will enhance our ability to serve customers as we navigate the decline in COVID-19 testing demand and develop new products with the benefit of SDB's industry expertise and complementary offerings," said Meridian CEO Jack Kenny.

SD and SJL will fund the transaction via a combination of cash on hand and additional financing capacity.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of Meridian and SD, and the investment committee of SJL.

The deal, which is expected to close in Q4, is subject to conditions, including approval by Meridian shareholders, regulatory approvals, the absence of specified materially adverse outcomes of Meridian's ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Preliminary Q3 results : In a separate release, Meridian said that preliminary net revenues are expected to be between $66M and $69M.

The Diagnostics segment net revenues are expected to be in the range of $41M to $43M. The Life Science segment net revenues are expected to be between $25M and $26M, of which sales of immunological reagents accounted for ~69% and molecular reagents contributed ~31%.

VIVO -1.28% to $33.12 premarket July 7

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