Sigma-Aldrich to Acquire BioReliance for $350M

Sigma-Aldrich has agreed to acquire bioharmaceutical testing services company BioReliance for $350 million.

St. Louis-based life science and high technology company Sigma-Aldrich has agreed to acquire BioReliance from Avista Capital Partners for $350 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012.

Rockville-based BioReliance provides biologics testing, specialized toxicology and animal health testing worldwide. Avista Capital Partners acquired BioReliance in 2007.

Sigma-Aldrich president and chief executive officer Rakesh Sachdev stated, "The addition of BioReliance's industry-leading QA/QC testing services enables us to support customers' needs to determine the quality and integrity of biological drugs at every step of the development and manufacturing process. We are excited to add BioReliance's capabilities and its talented employees to our compan