Monday, July 28, 2008

Thermo Fisher buys Fiberlite Centrifuge

By Mass High Tech Staff

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a maker of laboratory instruments and research materials, has acquired FiberLite Centrifuge Inc., a Santa Clara, Calf., provider of carbon fiber centrifuge rotors, according to Thermo.

Prior to the buyout, Waltham-based Thermo (NYSE: TMO) had been distributing FiberLite’s carbon fiber rotors as an alternative to those made of aluminum or titanium, Thermo CEO Marijn Dekkers said in a statement. Thermo is also a provider of centrifuges, which are lab tools used to prepare test samples, among other research functions.

Thermo said that privately held FiberLite had 2007 revenue of $7 million, yet terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. FiberLite will become part of the laboratory products and services segment of Thermo.

The FiberLite buyout is the third acquisition Thermo has announced this month. The other two purchases were of Golden, Colo.-based Affinity BioReagents Inc., a provider of reagents for life sciences research, and Open Biosystems Inc., a Huntsville, Ala., maker of RNA-interference test materials.

Thermo, which employs 33,000 people worldwide, reported 2007 net income of $761.1 million on revenue of $9.7 billion.