Halma (LSE:HLMA) has agreed to acquire Dreampath Diagnostics, a French provider of automated tissue sample management systems, for initial cash consideration of €154m (approximately £132m), rising to a maximum of €275m (approximately £236m) if earnout conditions are met.
The earnout of up to €121m is payable in cash based on performance over the two years to 31 March 2027 and 2028, split 38% and 62% respectively, implying a heavier weighting on the second year.
Dreampath, headquartered in Strasbourg, supplies automated hardware, software and consumables that allow anatomical pathology laboratories to track, store and retrieve patient tissue samples across their full diagnostic lifecycle, a workflow governed by regulations requiring sample retention for a minimum of ten years.
Forecast revenue for the 12 months to 31 March 2027 is €33m (approximately £28m), placing the initial consideration at roughly 4.7 times forward revenue; the maximum deal value implies a multiple of approximately 8.3 times if full earnout is achieved.
Halma will fund the acquisition from existing facilities, with Dreampath operating as a standalone business inside Halma's Healthcare Sector under its existing management team.
"Dreampath is a high-quality business in a growing area of diagnostics, driven by increasing demand for better healthcare, more testing alongside new treatments, and rising rates of chronic disease as populations age," said Halma chief executive Marc Ronchetti.
Completion is subject to customary conditions, with no shareholder approval required.
