There’s an ownership change coming for one of the Rochester area’s larger employers.
The deal involves Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, which operates three facilities in the Rochester area, including two manufacturing facilities and an administrative building at the Canal Ponds business park in Greece.
Altogether, those operations employ about 1,200 people.
Late last week, the Quidel Corporation, a California-based healthcare diagnostics manufacturer reached agreement to buy Ortho Clinical Diagnostics for a combined cash and stock deal valued at about $6 billion.
Quidel makes at-home rapid tests, including those used for COVID-19. Ortho Clinical, which is headquartered in New Jersey, also makes products used for diagnosing diseases, known as in-vitro diagnostics that are used by places like hospitals and clinical labs.
Ortho Clinical has longtime roots in the Rochester area, at one point, having been associated with Eastman Kodak and Johnson and Johnson.
Later, it was owned by a private investment firm, and then it became a public company last January.
A senior manager for corporate communications, Elaine Colón, told WXXI News that “Ortho Rochester is and will remain an important part of our manufacturing operation moving forward.”
Ortho Clinical Chairman and CEO Chris Smith said that, “By bringing together Quidel’s point-of-care diagnostics with Ortho’s vast global reach, there is a substantial opportunity to capitalize on the cross-selling opportunities, move into attractive adjacent markets, and accelerate innovative product expansion and the development of molecular technologies.”
Douglas Bryant, President and CEO of Quidel said that “The combination with Ortho will help solidify Quidel as a leader in the diagnostics industry, bringing together innovative, complementary products, solutions, and services that enhance the health and well-being of patients across the globe.”
Bryant will serve as Chairman and CEO of the combined company. The deal is expected to close during the first half of fiscal year 2022.
