GSI Lumonics to Sell Life Sciences Unit

GSI Lumonics Inc. of Kanata, Ontario, Canada, has announced that it will sell its biochip and microarray divisions to Packard BioScience Co. of Meriden, Conn., for cash and stock valued at $120 million. GSI's life sciences division represents about 5 percent of total GSI sales and about 75 of its 1400 employees.

Charles Winston, CEO of GSI, said the division will benefit from Packard's global distribution system.

Upon completion of the deal, Packard will be among the three largest providers of biochip and micro-array tools for genomic and proteomic analysis, said company CEO Emery Olcott.