Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Conglomerate Still Bulking Up

Industrial conglomerate Danaher is continuing to expand its businesses.The company,which has 1.64 billion dollars in cash,prefers to augment its portfolio rather than pay a significant dividend.In September,Danaher bought the analytical technologies business of MDS,Inc. of Mississauga,Ontario,plus a 50% stake in a joint venture with the Canadian firm.The total cost of those deals was 650 million dollars U.S.Then Danaher acquired the remaining 50% of AB Sciex,a mass spectrometry maker,from Life Technologies of Carlsbad,California for 450 million.And it's still shopping.
Danaher said it had a solid beginning to Q4.The order book was stronger than expected,with good results across all its platforms,including Gilbarco fuel pumps,test and measurement,and Leica medical instruments.The Craftsman tool line is the most famous brand in Danaher's holdings.Based in Washington,D.C.,Danaher was paying a 12-cent dividend as of yesterday.The company employs about 50,000.

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