Berry Smith acted for AIM listed EKF Diagnostics in its acquisition of two international diagnostic businesses for a combined purchase price that could rise to over £60m.

The Penarth-headquartered company entered into a conditional agreement to buy US-based molecular diagnostics developer Selah Genomics for a sum up to £42.5m. The consideration will satisfied through a share issue.

At the same time, it announced a conditional agreement had been reached to acquire Swedish-based haemoglobin analyser manufacturer DiaSpect Medical for an initial consideration of £10.3m in cash and £5.8m in shares, and a further deferred consideration of up to £4.8m.

In total, the two deals could be worth up to £63.4m.

These deals complement EKF’s recent acquisition of Separation Technology Inc, the Florida based manufacturer of in vitro diagnostics, which Berry Smith also advised on.

In addition, EKF has announced plans to raise approximately £26m through two share placings, a firm placing of 14.3m shares and a conditional placing of 48.6m shares. The overall placing represents 23 per cent of the company’s existing share capital.

Julian Baines, chief executive officer of EKF, said: “These acquisitions provide us with a huge opportunity to establish ourselves as a leading global player in point-of-care haemoglobin testing and to consolidate our position in molecular diagnostics and personalised medicine, an area that we consider to be one of the most exciting areas in diagnostics”.

Andrew Bound, Partner and Head of Corporate, led the Berry Smith team on the acquisitions and fundraising said: ”I am delighted that we have been able to act for EKF in these transactions. We have a long-established and close working relationship with EKF and are pleased to assist EKF in building for further success.”