Waters Corp. to acquire California medical tech company for $1.4B

PHOTO/TMS AERIAL SOLUTIONS Waters Corp. is headquartered in Milford.

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By Kevin Koczwara

Waters Corp. in Milford plans to acquire light scattering technology company Wyatt Technology Corp. for $1.36 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023.

Waters, a laboratory instrument and software company with 7,500 employees worldwide, will fund the acquisition through cash on its balance sheet and existing borrowing abilities, according to a Wednesday press release from the company. Waters will temporarily suspend its share repurchase program through the remainder of 2023 and use any free cash flow to pay down debt.

Wyatt is located in Santa Barbara, California, and its light scattering instruments and software help pharmaceutical companies characterize molecules making up monoclonal antibodies and cell and gene therapies. According to Waters, the acquisition of Wyatt positions the Milford company to build its bioanalytical characterization business, which it estimates to be a $1.8-billion market.

Wyatt is a privately held family company and reported approximately $110 million in revenue in 2022, according to Waters. It has more than 200 employees and was founded in 1981. Waters anticipates broadening Wyatt’s global reach and scale.

Waters has invested $5.8M to grow its Ireland research-and-development center, created a bioanalysis academy in South Korea, expanded its board with two members, one of which is the chief financial officer from nearly medical device manufacturing Boston Scientific Corp. in Marlborough.

Waters on Wednesday also announced its fourth quarter results for 2022. According to its report, sales were $859 million for the quarter and and $3 billion for the fiscal year. It reported more than $3 million in total assets.