PerkinElmer, After Beckman-Bid Loss, Is Mulling Deals -Bloomberg

Medical-diagnostics supplier PerkinElmer Inc. (PKI) is considering whether to buy another large company or possibly put itself up for sale, after an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Beckman Coulter Inc. (BEC), Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

According to the sources and regulatory filings, PerkinElmer, after months of pursuing Beckman, made the highest bid in the late stages of an auction earlier this month for the Orange County, Calif., medical-equipment company.

Danaher Corp. (DHR) ultimately won the auction with a bid of $83.50 a share, or $5.87 billion, just 25 cents a share more than PerkinElmer's offer for Beckman, the sources told Bloomberg.

Beckman's board, advised by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), determined that Danaher represented the best deal for shareholders, according to a Beckman regulatory filing cited by Bloomberg. PerkinElmer had arranged about $7 billion in financing for a purchase, sources said, while Danaher is using cash to fund about 25% of its acquisition, with the remainder in debt and equity.

Full story at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-24/perkinelmer-is-said-to-have-missed-buying-beckman-by-25-cents.html

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