ACQUISITIONS

For a description of the Company’s acquisition activity for the year ended December 31, 2018, reference is made to the financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2018 and Note 3 thereto included in the Company’s 2018 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 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 its 2018 and 2019 acquisitions and is also in the process of obtaining valuations of certain plant and equipment, acquired intangible assets and certain acquisition-related liabilities in connection with its first quarter 2019 acquisition. The Company will make appropriate adjustments to the purchase price allocation prior to completion of the measurement period, as required.

During the three-month period ended March 29, 2019, the Company acquired one business for total consideration of $308 million in cash, net of cash acquired. The business acquired complements an existing unit of the Life Sciences segment. The aggregate annual sales of this business at the time of its acquisition, based on the company’s revenues for its last completed fiscal year prior to the acquisition, were $61 million. The Company preliminarily recorded an aggregate of $211 million of goodwill related to this acquisition.

The following summarizes the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the date of acquisition for the acquisition consummated during the three-month period ended March 29, 2019 ($ in millions):



Trade accounts receivable	$	7.7
Inventories	8.6
Property, plant and equipment	3.9
Goodwill	211.1
Other intangible assets, primarily customer relationships, trade names and technology	87.0
Trade accounts payable	(2.6		)
Other assets and liabilities, net	(7.5		)
Net cash consideration	$	308.2

Pro Forma Financial Information

The unaudited pro forma information for the periods set forth below gives effect to the 2019 and 2018 acquisitions as if they had occurred as of January 1, 2018. 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 29, 2019		March 30, 2018
Sales	$	4,884.1	$	4,788.3
Net earnings attributable to common stockholders	326.1		552.4
Diluted net earnings per share	0.45		0.78

Pending Acquisition

On February 25, 2019, the Company entered into an Equity and Asset Purchase Agreement (the “GE Biopharma Purchase Agreement”) with General Electric Company (“GE”) to acquire the Biopharma Business of GE Life Sciences (the “GE Biopharma Business” or “GE Biopharma”) for a cash purchase price of approximately $21.0 billion, subject to certain adjustments, and the assumption of approximately $0.4 billion of pension liabilities (the “GE Biopharma Acquisition”). The GE Biopharma Business is a leading provider of instruments, consumables and software that support the research, discovery, process development and manufacturing workflows of biopharmaceutical drugs. Based on unaudited preliminary financial measures provided by GE, the GE Biopharma Business generated revenues of approximately $3.0 billion in 2018. The GE Biopharma Acquisition is expected to provide additional sales and earnings growth opportunities for the Company’s Life Sciences segment by expanding the business’ geographic and product line diversity, including new product and service offerings that complement the Company’s current biologics workflow solutions. The Company expects to include the GE Biopharma Business within the Life Sciences segment. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to customary conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals.

The Company expects to finance the GE Biopharma Acquisition with approximately $3.0 billion of proceeds from the March 1, 2019 underwritten public offerings of its Common Stock and Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock (“MCPS”), proceeds from the issuance of debt or other borrowings and available cash on hand. Refer to Note 14 for additional information related to the March 1, 2019 public offerings.