Danaher Buys Beckman Coulter

I’m a big fan of Danaher (DHR) and the stock used to be a member of the Buy List. I decided to take the stock off the Buy List for 2010, which probably wasn’t a smart move since the stock rallied 25% last year.

The company just announced that it’s buying Beckman Coulter (BEC) for $5.8 billion in cash.

Under the terms of the deal, Danaher will pay $83.50 per share in a tender offer for Beckman’s shares. The price is 11 percent higher than Beckman’s closing price on Friday and 45 percent above the company’s stock price on Dec. 9, before reports of a potential deal emerged.

I’m surprised to see that DHR is up today. Usually, the acquiring firm drops when a buyout is announced. Danaher beat out two consortiums to buy BEC.

I was hoping that DHR would drop below $35 so I could add it to this year’s Buy List. As much as I like the stock, I think it’s fairly priced here.

Posted by on February 7th, 2011 at 10:09 am


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