Sartorius Acquires Software Company Umetrics and Closes the Acquisition of Essen BioScience

Sartorius (FWB:SRT), a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry and research laboratories, today acquired through its subgroup Sartorius Stedim Biotech the company MKS Instruments AB (Umetrics) based in Malmö, Sweden. Umetrics is a leading specialist in data analytics software for modeling and optimizing biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing processes. Umetrics has already been cooperating with Sartorius for around five years and, in 2017, plans to generate full-year sales revenue of around U.S. $15 million and a significant double-digit operating profit margin. Sartorius purchased the company for U.S. $72.5 million from the U.S. MKS Instruments Group.

Essen BioScience acquisition successfully closed

In addition, Sartorius successfully completed the acquisition of U.S.-based Essen BioScience Inc. signed on March 3, 2017, after receiving antitrust clearance. With Essen’s novel, real-time live-cell imaging and analysis systems, the Sartorius Lab Products & Services Division is significantly expanding its portfolio in bioanalytics, which it entered last year by acquiring IntelliCyt, a cell screening specialist. Essen BioScience is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. For the current fiscal year, the company expects to generate annual sales revenue of around U.S. $60 million and a strong double-digit operating profit margin.

Guidance raised for fiscal 2017

Due to consolidation of these acquisitions, the Sartorius Group is raising its guidance for the current fiscal year as follows:

For the Lab Products & Services Division, Group management projects that, considering the Essen BioScience acquisition and assuming an overall stable economic environment, sales will increase by about 20% to 24% (previously about 6% to 10%) and the division’s underlying EBITDA margin¹ will rise by nearly 2 percentage points compared with the prior-year figure of 16.0% (previously about + 1 percentage point).

For the Bioprocess Solutions Division, Sartorius continues to expect that sales will grow by about 9% to 13% and the division’s underlying EBITDA margin will rise by about half a percentage point (2016: 28.0%). The positive growth effect due to the Umetrics acquisition of a good 1 percentage point will be compensated by the somewhat softer customer demand at the beginning of the year as well as by temporarily limited delivery capacities for cell culture media in North America, which are anticipated to have an impact primarily in the first half of 2017.

Based on the updated division forecasts, management projects that Group sales revenue for the full year will grow by about 12% to 16% (previously about 8% to 12%). The company’s underlying EBITDA margin is forecasted to increase slightly ahead of the half a percentage point previously expected. (All forecasts are based on constant currencies.) The capex ratio for the current fiscal year is projected to remain at around 12% to 15%.

“Through the five companies that we have acquired over the past nine months, we have further extended the footprint of both our Group divisions in biopharmaceutical applications considerably. Even though the market environment has leveled off to normal growth levels as expected, we are well on track to achieve our increased annual targets,” said Group CEO Joachim Kreuzburg.

¹ Sartorius uses underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for extraordinary items) as the key profitability indicator

This press release contains statements about the future development of the Sartorius Group. The content of these statements cannot be guaranteed as they are based on assumptions and estimates that harbor certain risks and uncertainties. This is a translation of the original German-language press release. Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original German press release is the legally binding version. Furthermore, Sartorius reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.

Current Image Files

Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO and Executive Board Chairman of Sartorius AG
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Sartorius products used in the manufacture of medications
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Sartorius products used in biopharma research laboratories
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Upcoming Financial Dates

April 6, 2017			Annual Shareholders’ Meeting
April 24, 2017			Publication of first-quarter figures (January to March 2017)

A Profile of Sartorius

The Sartorius Group is a leading international pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment provider with two divisions: Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services. Bioprocess Solutions with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers produce biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. Lab Products & Services, with its premium laboratory instruments, consumables and services, concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality assurance at pharma and biopharma companies and on those of academic research institutes. Founded in 1870, the company earned sales revenue of more than 1.3 billion euros in 2016. More than 6,900 people work at the Group's approximately 50 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe.

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Contact information

Sartorius
Petra Kirchhoff, +49 (0)551.308.1686
Vice President of Corporate Communications
petra.kirchhoff@sartorius.com