Today’s Change
Current Price
Bio-Techne (TECH +20.09%), a life science reagents, instruments, and bioprocessing tools provider, closed at $70.67, up 20.02%. Merck KGaA’s $73-per-share cash offer drove the move, and investors are watching the deal timetable and any updates on closing conditions. Trading volume reached 51.3M shares, coming in about 1,378% above its three-month average of 3.5M shares.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.01%) finished at 7,357, down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.46%) closed at 25,359, down 0.46%. Among life sciences tools, reagents, instruments, and diagnostics/bioprocessing services peers, Danaher closed at $193.23, up 2.31%, and Repligen closed at $145.23, up 4.93%.
What this means for investors
One week after it was reported that activist investor Ananym Capital Management had built a stake in Bio-Techne and announced it would be pushing for the company to be sold, a $73-per-share deal from Merck KGaA came in, sending shares soaring. With TECH stock now near $71, it seems the market is optimistic the deal will go through, at a time when $419 billion in healthcare deals have already been completed in 2026 — the most since 2021.
Profitable and growing sales by 10% annually over the last decade, Bio-Techne will help reload Merck KGaA’s pipeline, adding “complementary strengths across research, bioprocessing, and advanced therapeutics.” The $70 billion acquirer believes it will achieve annualized cost synergies of over $150 million within three years, adding roughly 5% to its bottom line, based on last year’s net income of roughly $3 billion.
Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Danaher. The Motley Fool recommends Repligen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
