Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Reference number

D13/179573

Section

50 of the CCA

Company or individual details

  • Name

    Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc

    ACN

    058 390 917

Undertaking

On 18 December 2013, the ACCC accepted an undertaking (the Undertaking) from Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Thermo Fisher) in relation to its proposed acquisition of Life Technologies Corporation (the Proposed Acquisition).

The Undertaking incorporates commitments Thermo Fisher has given to the European Commission. The Undertaking requires that Thermo Fisher divests its Australian cell culture business and Australian synthetic small interfering RNA (siRNA) business (the Divestiture Businesses).

The Divestiture Businesses are both components of Thermo Fisher's global businesses that will be divested pursuant to its commitments to the European Commission. The Undertaking also provides that Thermo Fisher must divest the Divestiture Businesses to an ACCC-approved purchaser or purchasers.

The ACCC considered that in the absence of the Undertaking, the Proposed Acquisition would have had the effect or have been likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in the supply of Australian and NewZealand sourced processed foetal bovine serum and the supply of siRNA in Australia.

Foetal bovine serum supplies nutrients to cells grown in artificial environments, and is used for a number of applications including academic research and vaccine production. siRNA is a specialised product in the area of molecular biology that is used to deactivate or 'silence' genes.

The Undertaking's objective is to address the ACCC's competition concerns which would otherwise arise as a consequence of the Proposed Acquisition by maintaining the level of competition which existed before the Proposed Acquisition, through:
i. creating or strengthening a viable, effective, stand-alone independent and long term competitor for the supply of Australian and New Zealand sourced processed foetal bovine serum and the supply of  SIRNA in Australia;
ii. ensuring that the ACCC-approved purchaser or purchasers of the Divestiture Businesses have the necessary assets, rights and agreements to compete effectively with Thermo Fisher in the supply of Australian and New Zealand sourced processed foetal bovine serum and the supply of siRNA in Australia;
iii. maintaining the economic viability, marketability, competitiveness and goodwill of the Divestiture Businesses prior to divestiture;
iv. enabling the approved purchaser or purchasers of the Divestiture Businesses to manufacture (where relevant) and supply the products independently of Thermo Fisher;
v. ensuring that any interim supply or toll manufacturing arrangements between Thermo Fisher and the approved purchaser or purchasers will be for a short period, at arm's length and on terms no less favourable than normal commercial terms; and
vi. effective oversight of the operation of the Divestiture Businesses prior to divestiture, the process of divestiture and the separation of the Divestiture Businesses from Thermo Fisher.