A private equity bidder for Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc. has dropped out of a joint offer for the company, according to Bloomberg.
New York-based Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. dropped out of a bidding group for Beckman, a maker of equipment and supplies for medical testing laboratories and researchers.
KKR had been part of a bid with San Francisco-based TPG Capital and New York’s Blackstone Group LP, which now have to come up with more money or find a new partner, according to the report.
A second private equity group made up of New York-based Apollo Global Management LLC and Carlyle Group of Washington, D.C., still is in the running for Beckman, which said it was exploring a sale in December.
Danaher Corp., a Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate that owns Orange dental products maker Sybron Dental Specialties Inc., also is bidding for Beckman.
KKR pulled out over concern that bids for Beckman were growing too high amid interest from Danaher, according to Bloomberg.
Beckman has a market value of nearly $5 billion, up about 25% since word of a potential sale broke in early December.
The next round of bids are due in early February.
The company is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on the bidding process.
Beckman is wrestling with quality and regulatory issues stemming from a spring recall of a profitable heart disease test known as troponin.
The recall drove a big stock drop and 2010 profit revision, and likely attracted private equity firms as possible buyers.
Private equity firms could be looking to take Beckman private and give it cover as it works through its issues before taking it public again.
