BioReliance sold for under half price

Published on Sunday 18 February 2007 00:05

INVITROGEN, the US biotechnology giant, has confirmed plans to sell its BioReliance drug services division, which employs about 300 scientists in Scotland, for less than half what it paid for the business three years ago.

Avista Capital Partners, the US private equity house, will pay 107m for BioReliance, which was acquired by Invitrogen for 275m in 2004.

Invitrogen's plan to offload the business was revealed by Scotland on Sunday last week.

An Invitrogen spokesman said yesterday: "What we found was that BioReliance is not a strategic fit for our company." He added: "It is a good business that can be optimised further than our resources and focus could allow."

BioReliance employs staff in Stirling and Glasgow, providing biological safety testing, and toxicology and viral manufacturing services. It has a further 400 staff at its Maryland headquarters in the US.

An Avista spokeswoman said the firm had no plans to change BioReliance's workforce, and that BioReliance would be operated as a stand-alone business.

Scottish Enterprise recently let slip that Invitrogen had cancelled a 17m expansion plan which would have seen all of its Scottish operations brought together at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire.

Invitrogen will retain its products division, which employs 370 staff at Inchinnan. The spokesman said: "We are committed to our business operations in Scotland."

Invitrogen's shares leapt 10% last week on news that it was to offload BioReliance.