Sigma-Aldrich® Agrees To Acquire Cell Marque To Strengthen Immunohistochemistry Business

ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich^® Corporation (Nasdaq: SIAL) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Rocklin, California, based Cell Marque Corporation in a move to strengthen its antibody portfolio and to better serve immunohistochemistry (IHC) customers. Cell Marque designs, develops and manufactures antibody reagents and kits, an offering that will complement Sigma-Aldrich's IHC product family. The Company expects this acquisition to be neutral to mildly accretive to earnings per share in 2015. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is anticipated to close by the end of 2014.

Cell Marque is well-recognized in IHC for its high quality products and technical expertise, including validated, fit-for-purpose antibodies and IHC staining kits aimed at pathologists and clinicians focused on patient management. The company employs more than 90 people.

"We expect that Cell Marque's strong in vitro diagnostic (IVD) antibody product lines and solid relationships with pathologists and companies that provide automated staining instrumentation will broaden the diagnostic health reach of Sigma-Aldrich," commented Frank Wicks, Ph.D., President of Sigma-Aldrich's Applied Business Unit. "Cell Marque's scientific knowledge and experience in the design, validation and manufacturing of IVD antibodies for immunohistochemistry make them an attractive addition to our business, complementing our workflow solutions aimed at IVD customers. With these products and the scientific expertise behind them, we can build upon our extensive capabilities in this area, providing even greater value to current and new customers alike."

Nora Lacey, President & CEO, Cell Marque said, "I believe that there is great synergy between Sigma-Aldrich and Cell Marque, and being a member of the Sigma-Aldrich family will bring our customers a partner with the depth and breadth of resources to continually innovate and expand upon our product offering. I am convinced that the legacy Cell Marque has created through its dedication and commitment to our customers will be carried on by Sigma-Aldrich into the future as we are all committed to providing customers with unsurpassed quality and service."

Cautionary statement: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "to strengthen," "expands," "expects," "anticipated," "will broaden," "furthers," "builds upon," "will bring," or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues or earnings. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that the acquisition of Cell Marque will achieve any particular levels of revenue or earnings in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding the acquisition of Cell Marque could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as updated in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich, a leading life science and high-technology company focused on enhancing human health and safety, manufactures and distributes 230,000 chemicals, biochemicals and other essential products to more than 1.4 million customers globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and commercial markets. With three distinct business units – Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial – Sigma-Aldrich is committed to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The company operates in 37 countries, has more than 9,000 employees worldwide and had sales of $2.7 billion in 2013. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.

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SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich Corporation