Apogent purchases two consumables businesses.

Portsmouth, NH and Elmwood Park, NJ 8/4/03; Waltham, MA 7/31/03 -- Apogent Technologies subsidiary Molecular BioProducts has purchased Porex Bio Products, a manufacturer of plastic consumables for liquid handling and storage in clinical and research labs, from WebMD. The company will be renamed Quality Scientific Plastics. Apogent forecasts first full-year net sales of approximately $50 million. Apogent also purchased certain operating assets of Meteor Glass' pipette, vial and tube business, including Pasteur pipettes, culture tubes and rain gauges, which will become part of Chase Scientific Glass. First full-year sales are forecasted to be $0.5 million. Apogent has sold Applied Biotech, a manufacturer of rapid diagnostic tests for pregnancy, drugs of abuse and infectious diseases, to Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI) for 692,506 shares of IMI's common stock and additional consideration of either a payment of $13.4 million in cash or a payment of $5 million in cash and a one-year $8.4 million subordinated promissory note. The acquisition is expected to close in August.

The purchase of these two labware businesses emphasizes the prospects that glassware, and particularly plasticware, exhibit. Apogent has made significant investments in its consumables business during the last few years. Early in 2002 it bought Separation Technology and Capital Vial (see IBO 2/28/02). In October 2001, the company purchased Chromacol and Epsom Glass (see IBO 10/15/01). Apogent's Nalge/Nunc operation is already a labware market leader and these additions should fit in nicely, especially the Porex Bio Products line.