Thermo Fisher Scientific is acquiring Solventum’s purification & filtration business unit in a cash deal worth around $4.1bn.

Solventum’s unit produces purification and filtration solutions used in areas such as the production of biologics and medical technologies. The unit generated revenues of around $1bn last year.

Thermo Fisher expects the acquisition, which will see Solventum’s unit folded into its life sciences solutions segment once complete, to prove “highly complementary” to its bioproduction business. The deal also aims to broaden the company’s capabilities in developing and manufacturing biologics across upstream and downstream workflows.

Thermo Fisher president and CEO Marc Casper called the acquisition an “outstanding strategic fit” for the company which it expects to create significant value for its customers and shareholders.

He said: “As the trusted partner to our customers, Solventum’s purification & filtration business will expand and add differentiated capabilities to our bioprocessing portfolio to better serve our customers in this rapidly growing market.”

Dr Andrew S Thompson, director of therapy research and analysis in medical devices for GlobalData, said there were comparisons between Thermo’s deal and Danaher’s acquisition of US industrial filtration, separation, and purification company Pall Corporation in 2015.

“That was a much bigger deal, though Pall was generating about $3bn in revenues at the time, it was a similar sort of business,” said Thompson.

“So, we can expect to see a shuffle in Thermo Fisher’s internal structure, particularly the life sciences unit, which includes the bioproduction division.”

Beyond strengthening Thermo’s presence in bioprocessing, Thompson noted that of Solventum’s 2024 purification and filtration business unit revenues of approximately $1bn, around half were in industrials and water purification. The industrials segment potentially opens Thermo up to new markets, including electronics manufacturing.

Thompson said: “High-quality electronics manufacture is dependent on the provision of extremely clean water. This is an area set for massive increase, with the demand for AI set to explode, as it moves past the proof-of-principle stage, to actual commercial reality.

“But I’m not sure this is Thermo Fisher’s direction unless it wants to move into this area.”

Solventum spun off from American multinational 3M in April 2024 and has a global footprint across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific regions.

After yesterday’s deal announcement, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, Solventum’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) climbed by almost 10% to an $83.56 close.