Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc., a medical testing company, said Wednesday that it upped its offer for Biosite Inc. to about $1.67 billion, or $90 a share, matching a rival bid from Massachusetts-based Inverness Medical Innovations Inc.
The revised offer is $5 a share more than its original offer in late March. The current bid is good through May 15.
The new bid was expected. Beckman originally offered $1.55 billion for San Diego’s Biosite, or $85 a share. Earlier this week, an analyst predicted that Beckman wouldn’t walk away from Biosite without upping its offer.
Separately, Beckman said its first-quarter profit was up 14% to $37.1 million on improved gross margins, beating Wall Street expectations. Sales were up 8% to $613.6 million.
Gross margins were up on sales of higher-margin products and favorable foreign exchange rates, the company said in a release.
Analysts expected Beckman to earn $35.8 million, with sales of $617.8 million.
Beckman also reiterated its 2007 outlook. The company expects to post a profit of $191.2 million to $200.4 million. Sales are expected to come in at $2.71 billion to $2.76 billion.
Analysts are looking for a profit of $196.7 million on revenue of $2.75 billion.
