LabCorp buying CRO Chiltern for $1.2B

Diagnostics company Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) will acquire specialty CRO Chiltern International Ltd. (Slough, U.K.) for about $1.2 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close next quarter.

Chiltern will become part of LabCorp’s global CRO segment Covance Inc. LabCorp said the deal will expand Covance's offerings to emerging-to-mid market biopharma customers, add capabilities in medical device development, and complement Covance’s late-phase experience with Chiltern’s expertise in early clinical development. LabCorp acquired Covance for $6.2 billion in 2015 (see BioCentury Extra, Nov. 3, 2014). ...