BioMérieux Acquires AES Laboratoire

In its ninth acquisition in five years bioMérieux, a provider in the field of in vitro diagnostics, has signed an agreement to acquire the French group, AES Laboratoire, specializing in industrial microbiological control, for 183 million euros. This will be bioMérieux’s and its third in the area of industrial applications.

Founded 30 years ago, the AES Laboratoire group, AES CHEMUNEX’s parent company, ranks fifth among industrial microbiology companies worldwide. The company has close to 400 employees, with R&D and manufacturing sites located in France and Canada, in addition to four commercial subsidiaries. Commercial and administrative headquarters are based near Rennes, France.

AES Laboratoire has products spanning applications for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. The company’s offerings include a complete portfolio of conventional and novel culture media, rapid microbiology testing methods, and laboratory instruments, as well as cytometry for the detection of microorganisms, with an innovative range of flow cytometers and a solid-phase cytometer, ChemScan RDI. The company also provides a range of services, as well as software for laboratory monitoring and metrology.

In addition, bioMérieux said that AES CHEMUNEX’s unique expertise in the agri-food and cosmetic sectors will support its growth strategy to further develop and invest in AES Laboratoire’s cytometry solutions and other promising platforms. bioMérieux is acquiring 100% of the shares of SKIVA (holding company of the AES Laboratoire group), from funds managed by Abénex Capital, the group’s majority shareholder since 2003, other investment funds (managed by EPF Partners, Fortis PE France, BNP Paribas) and the management. The transaction should close during the third quarter and is subject to antitrust approval.