Trinity Biotech in $52m US acquisition

Trinity Biotech is planning 100 new jobs in Bray, Co Wicklow, after agreeing the $52 million (€41 million) acquisition of a range of coagulation products in the US.

The developer and maker of diagnostic tests announced yesterday that it was buying the coagulation product line of US firm, bioMérieux and moving much of the production to the Republic.

This will see job numbers at Trinity Biotech's Bray facility grow from 310 to roughly 410 within the next 12 months.

The deal is Trinity Biotech's largest acquisition to date and will, according to Ronán O'Caoimh, chief executive of the company, be "transformational".

Trinity Biotech currently has 5 per cent of the global market for coagulation, the process whereby blood is tested for disorders. The bioMérieux deal will lift this market share to 13 per cent, making the firm the fourth biggest player.

Mr O'Caoimh said he was confident of "aggressively" increasing the firm's market share.

Rory Nealon, chief financial officer at the company, said the deal should allow Trinity Biotech to double its bottom-line performance within a year.

The firm expects the deal to add to earnings immediately and to boost revenue by about $40 million in 2007.

Operating profits should be boosted by between $5 and $6 million next year, according to Trinity Biotech's analysis. The company had revenues of almost $100 million and operating profits of $8 million in 2005.

Some benefit will come from synergies, with bioMérieux particularly strong in the US, UK and Germany, where Trinity Biotech sells directly rather than through agents.

The company will pay an initial $40 million for the portfolio of diagnostic tests and automated instruments, with a maximum of a further $6.4 million due after 12 months. A maximum of an additional $5.5 million is to be paid after 24 months.

The final payment is contingent on a number of milestones being achieved. Trinity will fund just over half the deal through new borrowings, with the remainder to be paid from cash resources. The group raised $25 million in a share placing at the start of April. The job creation at Bray, which will require the construction of a new manufacturing facility, will come as Trinity Biotech transfers the production of reagents from bioMérieux's plant in North Carolina. Reagents are added to blood in coagulation testing.

Shares in Trinity Biotech moved up by 26 cents to $8.55 on the Nasdaq yesterday.