Gerresheimer will sell its Life Science Research business

- Gerresheimer and Chase Scientific Glass, Inc. will sell their joint venture (51/49%) Kimble Chase to the Duran Group, a company of the One Equity Partners investment group
- Purchase price for Kimble Chase amounts to USD 131 million.

Gerresheimer's strategic focus is on the manufacture of pharmaceutical packaging and products for drug delivery. Following this strategy, Gerresheimer has today announced the sale of its laboratory glass division to the Duran Group, an investment group of One Equity Partners. "We are a leading and global manufacturer of pharmaceutical packaging and products for the simple and safe administration of medications. The production of laboratory glass is not our core business and has few synergies with it. Together with our joint venture partner Chase Scientific Glass, Inc., we have therefore decided to sell the laboratory glass business," said Uwe Röhrhoff, CEO of Gerresheimer AG.

Kimble Chase Life Science and Research Products LLC is headquartered in Rockwood, Tennessee/USA. It is a leading manufacturer of specialty glass products for laboratories and scientific institutions. The product portfolio for research, development, and analytics includes reusable laboratory glassware such as beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, graduated cylinders, as well as single-use laboratory items like test tubes, pipettes, chromatography vials, and other specialty laboratory glassware. Kimble Chase employs around 760 people worldwide. Production sites of Kimble Chase are located in Rockwood, Tennessee/USA, Rochester, New York/USA, Queretaro in Mexico, Meiningen in Germany, and Beijing in China. Kimble Chase's revenue in the fiscal year 2015 was EUR 100.7 million. Kimble Chase primarily sells its products in North America. Kimble Chase was founded in 2007 from the merger of the respective laboratory glass divisions as a joint venture of Gerresheimer (51%) and Chase Scientific Glass, Inc. (49%).

The revenue of the laboratory glass division, Kimble Chase, decreased by 2.6% to EUR 47.8 million in the first six months of the 2016 fiscal year. The adjusted EBITDA for the first six months was EUR 6.5 million, slightly below the previous year's figure.

The purchase price amounts to USD 131 million and will be paid in cash. The completion of the transaction is subject to antitrust approvals.