PerkinElmer to buy Euroscreen Products

PerkinElmer Inc., a Wellesley firm that sells products and systems to healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, said today it has agreed to acquire Euroscreen Products S.A., a Belgian firm that provides membranes, cell lines, and other items used by laboratories seeking to discover new drugs.

"This transaction would represent the next step in our strategy to build the most comprehensive offering in cellular screening and drug discovery reagent technologies," PerkinElmer chairman and chief executive Gregory L. Summe said in a statement.

PerkinElmer said it has signed an agreement with Euroscreen S.A., the firm's corporate parent, entitling it to buy Euroscreen Products.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, though PerkinElmer said this would be its seventh acquisition announced in 2006.

The Euroscreen transaction is expected to be completed in early 2007.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)