Copyright The Boston Globe
Private-equity giant Blackstone just inked another multibillion-dollar deal to expand its life sciences empire in Greater Boston, by lining up an $18 billion acquisition of Marlborough-based diagnostics maker Hologic. It’s one of the biggest deals of the year in any industry. Blackstone has been steadily building its life sciences and health care portfolio over the past decade, a mission that has meant planting deep roots in the Massachusetts economy. The New York company owns a number of high-profile lab properties here, through its BioMed Realty division, and has invested in several drug developers, including Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, through its Cambridge-based Life Sciences group. Now, with the Hologic acquisition, Blackstone is turning its attention to medical devices. Hologic, a 40-year-old public company with about $4 billion in annual revenue and 7,000 employees, makes a variety of devices focused on women’s health, including mammography and biopsy equipment. Blackstone teamed up with another big PE firm, TPG, as well as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to pull off the Hologic deal. The $18.3 billion maximum deal price — up to $79 a share — that the buyers cite in their announcement includes the cost to buy up all outstanding shares, as well as Hologic’s $2.2 billion in cash and $2.5 billion in debt. It also reflects two payments that are tied to certain global revenue goals for Hologic’s breast health business in 2026 and 2027. The deal price means the Hologic buyout will be among the private equity industry’s biggest buyouts of the year. Advertisement Representatives for Hologic and Blackstone declined to comment about the deal on Tuesday. The buyers plan to keep Hologic’s headquarters in Marlborough after the deal closes. Shares in Hologic soared in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve stalled out in the past year, amid a slowdown in revenue growth and costs caused by tariffs. The maximum price Blackstone and TPG will pay for Hologic still values the company at less than what it was worth a year ago, when its shares traded above $80. In their press announcement, the acquiring companies focused on the 46-percent premium they are paying on the stock price as of May 23, the last full day of trading before reports of buyout negotiations surfaced. Hologic had reportedly rejected the original offer from Blackstone and TPG but relented after they increased their asking price. Advertisement Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
