PerkinElmer to buy Horizon Discovery in £284m deal

(Sharecast News) - Horizon Discovery shares surged on Monday after it agreed to be bought by PerkinElmer in a deal that values the cell engineering company at around £284m.
Under the terms of the transaction, US group PerkinElmer - which focuses on diagnostics, life science research, food, environmental and industrial testing - will pay 185p a share in cash.

Horizon's directors plan to recommend unanimously that shareholders vote in favour of the deal.

The company's non-executive chairman Ian Gilham said: "Horizon has undergone a strategic transformation over the last two years and our reorganised portfolio gives us a strong position in the high-growth markets in which we operate.

"The Horizon board believes Horizon is ready to be listed in the US and whilst this should create meaningful value for shareholders in the longer term, a combination with PerkinElmer represents an opportunity for Horizon shareholders to immediately crystallise the value of their investment in cash at a premium of 108.3% to the current share price."

Gilham also said that with the support of PerkinElmer, Horizon can accelerate growth and provide customers with a broader and more integrated offering.

At 1310 GMT, the shares were up 111% at 186.98p.

Broker Peel Hunt said: "Whilst we see potential for the business and technologies in the mid-term, this is a very good offer for what is a group in transition, and trumps (by several pence) Abcam's 181p offer in 2018 (which we thought was fair at the time)."