Abbott to acquire Beckman Coulter?

It has been rumored that Beckman Coulter, the California, USA-based firmwhich makes laboratory and diagnostic systems, may be a takeover target for Abbott Laboratories, according to an article in Business Week carried by Bloomberg.

The magazine's "Inside Wall Street'' column claims that Beckman Coulter would be a logical acquisition target for the US major because, although it has the same customers as Abbott, very few of their products compete. The latter may bid $100 per share, which would give the potential deal a value of about $2.9 billion, the column claims, citing analysts.

Beckman Coulter's chief financial officer Amin Khalifa declined to comment on the story. The company posted sales of approximately $1.8 billion in 1999, with about half of this amount generated outside the USA.