GE Healthcare to Acquire Whatman

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company and Whatman plc have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition of Whatman
by GE Healthcare.
The terms of the transaction, subject to approval by Whatman shareholders as well as customary regulatory approvals* value the global supplier of filtration products and technologies at approximately
£363 million (approximately $713 million.) Joe Hogan, President and CEO GE Healthcare, commented, “Whatman is a great company with an outstanding track record of innovation, a strong reputation and brand with the research community, and highly talented employees.
Whatman’s product offerings are highly complementary with our Life Sciences business; we believe that combining the skills and knowledge of the two businesses will create significant added value for our customers. Life Sciences is a key area of growth for GE Healthcare
and expanding our skill base and product offerings in this area supports our vision of helping our customers to diagnose and treat disease earlier.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Kieran Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Whatman, said, “Whatman will benefit significantly from the
business process expertise within GE Healthcare and in addition, Whatman’s product opportunities within the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and forensics markets will have a greater chance of success within
the larger GE Healthcare group. The Whatman management team very much looks forward to working with the GE Healthcare leadership to maximise the potential of this great business.”
Peter Ehrenheim, President and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business, said, “Whatman’s expertise and reputation in filtration
technologies and sample preparation is a great fit for our Life Sciences business because it brings new technologies that are fundamental to helping researchers increase their understanding
of the role of genes and proteins in disease.
We believe that combining the skills of the two companies will enable GE Healthcare to create strong added value for customers in biomedical
and drug discovery research.”
*(at the time of going to press).