Sartorius Stedim Biotech acquires U.S. start-up kSep Systems

Regulatory News:

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a leading international supplier for the biopharmaceutical industry, today has signed a contract to acquire U.S. centrifuge specialist kSep Holdings, Inc. (kSep). The privately owned company based in Morrisville, North Carolina, has been operating on the market since 2011, and is expected to achieve significant double-digit growth and to generate around $7 million sales revenues and a strong double-digit EBITDA margin in 2016. The transaction values kSep at around $28 million and will be closed by the end of July 2016.

kSep has developed and markets single-use, fully automated centrifugation systems used for manufacturing biopharmaceuticals, such as vaccines, cell-based therapeutics and monoclonal antibodies. Reinhard Vogt, member of SSB’s Board, commented, "kSep’s centrifuges are a very innovative, single-use cell separation technology that perfectly complements our offering for downstream bioprocessing. Our clients will greatly benefit from the unique ability to collect, wash and concentrate cells quickly and reduce both the time and cost of downstream purification steps.” SSB will retain kSep’s current leadership and staff.

"Sartorius Stedim Biotech’s strong relationships with its customers will significantly speed up our internationalization and business growth. SSB will provide access to considerably more customers, especially in Asia, a market we haven’t developed yet,” said Sunil Mehta, President and CEO of kSep.

This press release contains statements about the future development of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. We cannot guarantee that the content of these statements will actually apply because these statements are based upon assumptions and estimates that harbor certain risks and uncertainties.

A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international supplier of products and services that enable the biopharmaceutical industry to develop and manufacture drugs safely and efficiently. As a total solutions provider, Sartorius Stedim Biotech offers a portfolio covering nearly all steps of biopharmaceutical manufacture. The company focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is quoted on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has a global reach. The company employs approx. 4,200 people, and in 2015 earned sales revenue of 884.3 million euros.

A profile of kSep

kSep Systems leverages its innovation, engineering, and cGMP manufacturing expertise to provide robust and automated single-use centrifugation solutions for the manufacturing of recombinant therapeutics, cell therapy products, and vaccines. kSep products solve the problems of traditional centrifugation-based systems by providing a gentle processing environment for the concentration, washing, and separation of cells while maintaining high recoveries. kSep Systems, a spinoff from KBI Biopharma, Inc., was established in 2011 and is based in Morrisville, NC.

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