Oct 4, 2023
Standard BioTools and SomaLogic Are Said to Near Merger Deal
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Standard BioTools Inc. and SomaLogic Inc. have agreed to merge in an all-stock deal to combine suppliers of tools to the medical research and drug development industry.
The deal gives the combined entity an equity value of more than $1 billion including a premium, according to a statement on Wednesday confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.
Under the terms, Standard BioTools Chief Executive Officer Michael Egholm will run the merged company, which will keep the Standard BioTools name. Investors in Colorado-based SomaLogic will get 1.11 shares of Standard BioTools stock for each share they own. They’ll own about 57% of the combined company.
The deal will leave the combined entity with some $500 million of estimated cash with which to conduct future acquisitions of companies that sell life-sciences tools to drugmakers and academics, according to the statement.
Life sciences investment firm Casdin Capital, a backer of both companies, will hold about 14% of the combined business, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
A combination gives the companies more heft when selling tools to drugmakers and researchers. The market is currently dominated by larger players such as Danaher Corp. and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Standard BioTools, based in South San Francisco, changed its name from Fluidigm in 2022 after a $250 million investment from Casdin Capital and Viking Global Investors that saw Egholm take over as CEO. The company makes technologies used by scientists to identify and locate proteins in cells. The tools are particularly useful to cancer research.
SomaLogic went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company backed by activist shareholder Keith Meister’s Corvex Management and Casdin Capital. It develops tools that can examine and detect proteins in blood samples for disease-specific research.
Centerview Partners LLC is advising Standard BioTools on the deal, while Perella Weinberg Partners LP and TD Cowen are working with SomaLogic.
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