- Sartorius Stedim Biotech to further expand its portfolio of single-use fermentors
Aubagne, October 7, 2013 – Sartorius Stedim Biotech, a leading global supplier for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, today made a cash offer to acquire the UK company TAP Biosystems Group plc (TAP Biosystems) through its wholly owned subsidiary Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH. The proposed transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of TAP’s shareholders, values the equity of TAP Biosystems at approximately €33 million. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close at the end of 2013.
SSB continues to expand its bioprocess businessIn making the announcement, Joachim Kreuzburg, the Chief Executive of Sartorius Stedim Biotech, stated, “TAP Biosystems’ fermentors are a great fit extending our reach into the small scale cell culture applications. Adding capabilities in the early steps of upstream bioprocessing will enable us to provide our biopharma customers highly effective and scalable solutions to accelerate cell line selection, speed-up process development and ultimately help them bringing their biologics to market faster”.
TAP Biosystems plc specializes in the design and development of small-scale, multi-parallel fermentation systems particularly for biopharmaceutical applications. With its ambr®-product family, the company has launched a novel platform technology for single-use fermentation that is designed to mimic mammalian cell culture at small scale, a highly innovative alternative to conventional systems. Furthermore TAP Biosystem’s portfolio includes automated cell processing systems and other bench top equipment. Founded in 1987, the company is headquartered in Royston, UK, and has a sales and support facility near Wilmington, Delaware, USA. TAP Biosystems generated sales revenue of approx. €26 million in 2012/13 and employs about 160 people worldwide.
Welcoming the acquisition, David Newble, CEO of TAP Biosystems, said, “As a market leader in bioprocessing technologies with a strong position in fermentation, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is well-placed to maximize the opportunities of our novel, highly innovative cell culture technologies. We look forward to joining such a well-recognized organization as Sartorius Stedim that will enable us to grow our business further with a wealth of complementary technologies and products”.
For further transaction details please refer to the section “Offer to acquire TAP Biosystems” on our website at www.sartorius.com
A Profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech
Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading provider of cutting-edge equipment and services for the development, quality assurance and production processes of the biopharmaceutical industry. Its integrated solutions covering fermentation, cell cultivation, filtration, purification, fluid management and lab technologies are supporting the biopharmaceutical industry around the world to develop and produce drugs safely, timely and economically. Sartorius Stedim Biotech focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Strongly rooted in the scientific community and closely allied with customers and technology partners, the company is dedicated to its philosophy of “turning science into solutions.” Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech enjoys a worldwide presence. Its key manufacturing and R&D site is in Germany. The company employs approx. 3,000 people, and in 2012 earned sales revenue of 544 million euros. www.sartorius.com
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Petra Kirchhoff
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