Thermo Fisher Scientific announced on Tuesday that it would buy Olink Holding AB, a Swedish company that specializes in protein analysis for disease research and drug development. The deal is worth $3.1 billion and will boost Thermo Fisher’s life sciences business, which has been facing lower demand from its biotech customers.
Olink’s U.S.-listed shares soared nearly 67% in early trading after the news, while Thermo Fisher’s shares dropped over 1%.
Olink provides products and services that enable advanced protein analysis, which can help identify key biomarkers of various diseases and assist in discovering and developing new drugs and vaccines.
The deal includes net cash of about $143 million and offers Olink shareholders $26 per share, which is an about 74% premium to the U.S.-listed stock’s closing price on Monday.
Thermo Fisher plans to use its cash on hand and debt financing to fund the transaction, which is expected to close by mid 2024.
The companies said that Olink is on track to generate over $200 million in revenue next year and, as part of Thermo Fisher, is expected to grow mid-teens organically.