PerkinElmer Inc. of Waltham has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hopkinton’s Caliper Life Sciences Inc. for about $600 million.
Both laboratory service companies have received approval for the deal from their boards of directors. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The purchase price of $10.50 per share represents a 42 percent premium over Wednesday’s closing price of $7.39. The company’s stock shot up to just below $10.50 this morning after the deal was announced.
PerkinElmer had revenues of $1.7 billion and profits of $384 million in its most recent fiscal year. Caliper’s revenues for that time period were $124 million, and its profits were $4.3 million.
Caliper took its current form in 2003 when Caliper Technologies bought Zymark Corp. Since then, the company has grown through both acquisitions and organic growth, increasing its revenue by around 500 percent.
