NEW YORK (AP) -- Medical laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc. said Thursday it is buying the Athena Diagnostics business from scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. for $740 million in cash.
Thermo Fisher, based in Waltham, Mass., is also selling a Pennsylvania-based laboratory testing business for $200 million in a separate deal, and said its board has authorized $750 million in stock buybacks.
The deal with Quest involves a business based in Worcester, Mass., that focuses on diagnostic tests for neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease. The Athena Diagnostics sale is expected to close in the second quarter.
Athena had $110 million in revenue in 2010 and 300 employees, according to Thermo Fisher.
Quest, based in Madison, N.J., said the buyout is not expected to impact the company's earnings per share in 2011, but it would likely add 1 percent to revenue growth in 2011.
In a separate statement, Thermo Fisher said it selling its Lancaster Laboratories businesses for $200 million to Belgium-based Eurofins Scientific SE. The business is a contract-testing laboratory that provides analytical services for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and environmental sciences customers.
Lancaster Laboratories, based in Lancaster, Pa., had about $115 million in revenue in 2010 and 1,100 employees in the U.S. and Ireland.
Meanwhile, Thermo Fisher said its board of directors approved a new $750 million stock buyback program, which expires Feb. 22, 2012.
Thermo Fisher said results for both the units being sold will be reported as discontinued operations in the first quarter. The unit sales, along with the acquisition of Dionex, could add about 5 cents to the company's adjusted earnings per share in 2011, Thermo Fisher said.