ACQUISITIONS

For a description of the Company’s acquisition activity for the year ended December 31, 2017 reference is made to the financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017 and Note 2 thereto included in the Company’s 2017 Annual Report.

The Company continually evaluates potential acquisitions that either strategically fit with the Company’s existing portfolio or expand the Company’s portfolio into a new and attractive business area. The Company has completed a number of acquisitions that have been accounted for as purchases and have resulted in the recognition of goodwill in the Company’s financial statements. This goodwill arises because the purchase prices for these businesses reflect a number of factors including the future earnings and cash flow potential of these businesses, the multiple to earnings, cash flow and other factors at which similar businesses have been purchased by other acquirers, the competitive nature of the processes by which the Company acquired the businesses, avoidance of the time and costs which would be required (and the associated risks that would be encountered) to enhance the Company’s existing product offerings to key target markets and enter into new and profitable businesses, anticipated opportunities for synergies from the elimination of redundant facilities and staffing and use of each party’s respective, existing commercial infrastructure to cost-effectively expand sales of the other party’s products and services, and the complementary strategic fit and resulting synergies these businesses bring to existing operations.

The Company makes an initial allocation of the purchase price at the date of acquisition based upon its understanding of the fair value of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities. The Company obtains this information during due diligence and through other sources. In the months after closing, as the Company obtains additional information about these assets and liabilities, including through tangible and intangible asset appraisals, and learns more about the newly acquired business, it is able to refine the estimates of fair value and more accurately allocate the purchase price. Only items identified as of the acquisition date are considered for subsequent adjustment. The Company is continuing to evaluate certain pre-acquisition contingencies associated with certain of its 2017 acquisitions and is also in the process of obtaining valuations of certain property, plant and equipment, acquired intangible assets and certain acquisition-related liabilities in connection with these acquisitions. The Company will make appropriate adjustments to the purchase price allocation prior to completion of the measurement period, as required.

In April 2018, the Company acquired Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (“IDT”), a privately-held manufacturer of custom DNA and RNA oligonucleotides serving customers in the academic and biopharmaceutical research, biotechnology, agriculture, clinical diagnostics and pharmaceutical development end-markets, for an all-cash purchase price of approximately $2.0 billion, including debt assumed and net of cash acquired. IDT had revenues of approximately $260 million in 2017, and is now part of the Company’s Life Sciences segment. The Company financed the acquisition of IDT with available cash and proceeds from the issuance of commercial paper. The acquisition of IDT provides additional sales and earnings growth opportunities for the Company’s Life Sciences segment by expanding the segment’s product line diversity, including new product and service offerings in the area of genomics consumables, and through the potential future acquisition of complementary businesses.

Pro Forma Financial Information

The unaudited pro forma information for the periods set forth below gives effect to the 2017 acquisitions as if they had occurred as of January 1, 2017. The pro forma information is presented for informational purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that actually would have been achieved had the acquisitions been consummated as of that time ($ in millions, except per share amounts):



	Three-Month Period Ended
	March 31, 2017
Sales	$	4,245.8
Net earnings from continuing operations	483.3
Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations	0.69