NEW YORK (AP) -- Blood-testing equipment maker Immucor Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to be acquired by TPG Capital in a deal worth $1.97 billion, or $27 per share in cash.
Immucor said its board unanimously approved the deal, and the Norcross, Georgia, company expects the sale to close in the second half of 2011.
TPG Capital, a private investment firm, is offering a 30.3-percent premium to the most recent closing price of Immucor shares. The deal requires regulatory approval and the support of the owners of at least 84 percent of Immucor's shares. Immucor said it can seek other buyout proposals until Aug. 15.
Shares of Immucor jumped $6.52, or 31.5 percent, to $27.25 in premarket trading. The stock has traded between $15.01 and $21.95 in the last year and closed at $20.73 on Friday.
Immucor sells automated blood testing systems that are designed to screen donated blood. The devices are used in blood donation centers and laboratories. The company also sells reagents that are used on those systems. Immucor's sales have been hurt by the weak economy, and over the first three quarters of its latest fiscal year, revenue grew 1 percent to $248.5 million.
Immucor changed chief executives last month, as President and CEO Gioacchino De Chirico left the company and was replaced by Joshua Levine.
