Intertek Group Share News (ITRK)

Testing and inspections firm Intertek is boosting its presence in the pharmaceutical and environmental markets with the acquisition of the regulatory and safety testing businesses of Ciba Expert Services (Ciba ES) from BASF.Ciba ES provides a set of services that are complementary to Intertek's own. They cover two segments: regulatory testing and consulting services; and environmental and safety testing, to companies in industries including pharmaceutical, chemical, food, healthcare, consumer product and agriculture. The businesses have around 200 employees on their payrolls spread across Switzerland, Canada, UK, China, India, Brazil, Italy and Japan.The gross value of the assets being acquired is about £34m. The acquired businesses are expected to generate around £20m in revenue in the first year of ownership.Ciba ES will form part of Intertek's Industrial Services and Analytical Services divisions.