Biotech company update: $275M sale finalized for Ann Arbor's HandyLab

Posted on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 7:40 a.m.

The deal for Ann Arbor medical devices firm HandyLab, a promising technology company often held up as a bright spot in the local economy, has been finalized by New Jersey-based medical devices manufacturer Becton, Dickinson and Company.

BD paid $275 million for HandyLab, according to a release issued this morning. While that figure wasn't released earlier, local estimates had pegged the value of the deal as close to $300 million.

The sale was announced Oct. 23.

HandyLab is a University of Michigan spinoff that employs about 60 people in Pittsfield Township. Company officials said the local operation will remain.

The biotech company develops and manufactures molecular diagnostic assays and automation platforms.

"HandyLab's high-quality organization and industry-leading technology complement BD's capabilities and healthcare-associated infections strategy, which requires the throughput, simplicity and flexibility that the HandyLab platform provides," said Philippe Jacon, President, BD Diagnostics - Diagnostic Systems, in a release. "We plan to provide laboratories with a broad molecular test menu on a very advanced automation platform."

BD [NYSE: BDX], based in New Jersey, has a market capitalization of $17 billion based on a stock price of $73.46 per share.