Thermo Electron to Acquire CRS Robotics Corp.

BURLINGTON, Ontario, March 13 -- CRS Robotics Corp. announced that Thermo Electron Corp. proposes to acquire for cash all the issued and outstanding shares of CRS Robotics (including all shares outstanding issuable upon exercise of outstanding options) for $5.75 ($CDN) per share. The aggregate acquisition cost of approximately $67 ($CDN) million will be funded from Thermo Electron's existing cash holdings.

Ralph Steedman, president and CEO of CRS, said, "This is truly an outstanding opportunity for our company. Thermo is a world-class organization in the life sciences business, and it will provide CRS with the financial resources and sales/marketing reach to become a leader in laboratory automation for drug discovery."