Donaldson Company Acquires Univercells Technologies for €136 Million

Donaldson Company, a US-based provider of filtration products and solutions, announced its acquisition of Univercells Technologies, a Belgian biotechnology company specializing in biomanufacturing solutions for cell and gene therapy research, development, and commercial manufacturing, on June 29, 2023. According to a company press release, Donaldson acquired Univercells for €136 million (US$148 million) on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

Univercells’ current product line includes the scale-X single-use structured fixed-bed bioreactor, which is designed for the intensified production of viruses for use in cell and gene therapies, viral vaccines, and various other therapeutics. The company also has the automated NevoLine upstream platform, which uses industry-standard filtration to provide integrated up- and mid-stream processing capabilities.

“The acquisition of Univercells Technologies represents an important next step in Donaldson’s life sciences strategy, as we continue to expand our product portfolio aimed at providing customers with a comprehensive, differentiated offering,” said Tod Carpenter, chairman, president, and CEO, Donaldson, in the release. “Univercells Technologies’ engineered systems provide close adjacencies with our previous life sciences acquisitions as well as with our growing organic product suite.”

“We are extremely excited to join Donaldson as we grow our portfolio of ... biomanufacturing platforms and increase our market penetration and related installed base of equipment," said Mathias Garny, CEO, Univercells Technologies, in the release. “Our technology, complemented by Donaldson’s filtration excellence and existing life sciences capabilities is part of a larger vision to bring end-to-end solutions to market for advanced therapies.”

Source: Univercells Technologies