Exponent Private Equity (“Exponent”) today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire The BBI Diagnostics Group (“BBI”), a provider of products and technologies to the diagnostic, healthcare, research, defence and food industries, from Alere Inc. (“Alere”) for $164 million.

Founded in 1986, BBI became a listed company on London’s AIM market in 2004, before being acquired by Alere (formally Inverness Medical Innovations) in 2008. Headquartered in Cardiff, South Wales and employing c470 people across multiple global sites, BBI has been a trusted partner to some of the world’s leading diagnostic and healthcare organisations for over 25 years. BBI was founded upon the success of the superior quality and performance of gold diagnostic reagents, and has since grown to supply over 1000 products to customers throughout the world, along with a range of contract development and manufacturing services.

BBI is the second investment to be made from Exponent’s third fund, following on from the acquisition of Big Bus Tours earlier this year.

Commenting on the acquisition, Oliver Bower of Exponent, said:

“BBI is an experienced operator in a high value and specialist market.  Exponent is looking forward to working with the current management team to capitalise on the company’s strong market position, diverse portfolio, and reputation for innovation in order to promote further growth.”

Also commenting, Lyn Rees, CEO of BBI, said:

“All of us at BBI are very much looking forward to working with our new owners to unlock the company’s true potential across our existing strong customer base of industry leaders, as well as in new markets. These are exciting times for our customers and staff as we look to further invest in our product range and manufacturing capability.”