Agilent to buy Denmark’s Dako for $2.2 bn

Electronics testing equipment maker Agilent Technologies Inc will buy Danish cancer diagnostics company Dako from Sweden-based private equity group EQT for $2.2 billion in cash to expand its life sciences business.

“Agilent’s strategy in acquiring Dako is about strengthening the company’s presence in life science and about revenue growth,” said Bill Sullivan, Agilent’s chief executive officer.

Agilent, known for its tools that measure voltage variation, analyze chemical compounds and vacuum pumps, also has a sizeable life sciences business that contributed about a third of its 2011 revenue of $5.58 billion.

Dako, a provider of reagents and instruments for cancer diagnosis to pathology laboratories, sells its products in more than 100 countries and had 2010 annual revenue of about $340 million.

The medical device industry, and diagnostics in particular, has seen several deals already this year. Last month, device maker Hologic Inc said it would buy diagnostic test firm Gen-Probe Inc for $3.75 billion in cash.

The Dako deal, expected to close in two months, will immediately add to Agilent’s adjusted earnings.

Shares of Agilent, which has a market value of $14 billion, were up 3% to $41 in trading before the bell on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.