Bruker to Acquire NanoString Technologies

Bruker has entered into a deal to acquire NanoString Technologies, a developer of spatial single-cell imaging technology, for approximately $392.6 million. Per the deal, NanoString’s business operations will no longer be the subject of a chapter 11 proceeding and will be owned by Bruker.

The transaction was agreed to under a chapter 11 sale process and is expected to close early next month.

Bruker submitted a qualifying bid to acquire Seattle-based NanoString earlier this week, following a March 10 agreement whereby private equity firm Patient Square Capital was to serve as a "stalking horse" bidder in conjunction with the NanoString sale process. Patient Square had agreed to purchase NanoString’s global business operations as a going concern for $220 million.

Following an auction on April 16, the revised offer from Bruker was selected as the winning bid for NanoString. The latest agreement is subject to bankruptcy court approval and other customary closing conditions.

NanoString Technologies is a developer of spatial biology technologies for translational research. Its offerings use imaging technologies to profile the expression of hundreds of genes, proteins, miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision using its "nCounter" Analysis System.

In the last six months, Bruker has entered into agreements to acquire companies including Chemspeed Technologies, Tornado Spectral Systems, Nion, ELITechGroup, Spectral Instruments Imaging, and Nanophoton Corporation.