In a bid to directly control the sales of its life sciences equipment in the South Korean market, Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE) has announced the acquisition of its distribution partner in the country, Life Science Korea (LSK).
LSK has been Life Technologies' primary distributor on the peninsula since 1994, and by combining the two companies, the life sciences specialist believes it will be better able to take advantage of Korea's growing interest in developing biotechnology capabilities.
Mark Smedley, Life Technologies President of Asia Pacific Japan, said: "The combination of Life Technologies Korea and LSK -- bolstered by our recent acquisition of consumables distributor KDR -- enables us to offer one channel to serve the many different needs of our South Korean customers and to create a superior purchasing experience."
The company says the biotech industry has experienced solid growth in South Korea over the last five years, and with the Korean government's Bio-vision 2016 initiative under way, it expects additional investments will be made in the life sciences industry.
The LSK name will become part of Life Technologies Korea; no other terms of the deal were announced.
Life Technologies is itself in the process of being acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific for almost $16 billion in a deal announced in April.
