The life science group Sartorius is expanding its bioanalytics portfolio by acquiring a majority stake in ALS Automated Lab Solutions GmbH. The laboratory technology company based in Jena, Germany, develops, manufactures and markets solutions for the automated analysis, selection and isolation of cells. With these solutions, ALS enables life science customers to significantly reduce time to result and cost in cell line development and antibody discovery. Other application areas are the development of cell and gene therapeutics as well as rare single cell molecular diagnostics in cancer and prenatal research.

Sartorius is initially purchasing 62.5 percent of the shares in ALS as of January 3, 2022. The remaining 37.5 percent will be acquired in 2026. ALS currently employs around 30 people and is expected to generate sales in the high single-digit million-euro area in 2021, with a double-digit EBITDA margin.

“We are helping our customers to increase their overall R&D efficiency. By doing so, we are contributing toward getting medicines faster to the market. With the acquisition of a majority stake in ALS, we are extending our offer in the field of bioanalytics by another complementary technology, further broadening our position in life science research. As a result, we are also strengthening our access to customers in very early stages of drug development,” said Gerry Mackay, member of the Executive Board and Head of the Lab Products & Services Division of Sartorius.

“We are delighted to join the Sartorius family. There is strong interest in our products and solutions from life science customers all over the world. This transaction will further enhance regulatory expertise as well as access to local support. Both are important factors for our customers,” said Jens Eberhardt, CEO and co-founder of ALS.

“The combination with Sartorius will enable ALS to speed up new developments and to complement our existing product portfolio with additional consumables, reagent kits and protocols. This is a fundamental step in our journey from a manufacturer of laboratory systems to a provider of complete end-to-end solutions,” said Gerd Bornmann, CEO and co-founder of ALS.