Phenomenex Inc., a privately held manufacturer and distributor of high-value consumables for the separation sciences, has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Danaher Corporation, a Fortune 150 science and technology company. Phenomenex will operate as a standalone operating company, retaining the Phenomenex brand, its personnel and site locations.

Phenomenex deals with proprietary chromatography consumables, serving the liquid and gas chromatography market. Over the past 30 years Phenomenex has grown to become a leader in the market with more than 7,000 products supporting a broad diversity of applications in drug discovery and development, clinical research, forensic toxicology, petrochemical, environmental analysis and food safety. Its more than 700 employees sell and provide support into 92 countries through direct and distributor channels.

“Phenomenex is a widely recognizable brand that we are proud to say is highly respected and well established as providing high-quality consumables to the scientific community worldwide,” says Fasha Mahjoor, CEO, Phenomenex. “Joining Danaher will allow us to maintain the high pace of innovation that our customers and international distributors have come to expect from us. This is our opportunity to further expand our R&D activities, benefit our customers with a more diversified product portfolio and reinforce our market leadership.”

“We are thrilled to have Phenomenex join Danaher’s life sciences portfolio of businesses, which include SCIEX, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, Pall, Leica Microsystems and Molecular Devices,” says Dan Daniel, Executive Vice President, Danaher. “Phenomenex is a strong business characterized by high growth rates and margins and excellent growth prospects driven by increasing analytical testing needs in the health, research and environmental segments. The Danaher Business System (DBS) has a strong track record of helping businesses rapidly scale operations and create long-term customer value. We look forward to supporting the Phenomenex team in leveraging DBS tools for growth and welcoming them to our Life Sciences team.”

The transaction, which is expected to close by late 2016, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.