Applera spins off Celera
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Applera will spin off its Celera Group diagnostics business as a separate company July 1 under a plan formally approved by Applera's board May 9. The move will separate Celera from Applera's Applied Biosystems research instrument tool business. Celera and Applied Biosystems have had separate tracking stocks on the New York Stock Exchange since 1999 despite sharing a single CEO and board of directors. Kathy Ordoñez, currently Celera Group president, will serve as CEO of Celera following the spin off. Celera Group changed its name from Celera Genomics in December 2006 after acquiring full ownership of Celera Diagnostics (previously a joint venture with Applied Biosystems) and shedding its drug development programs in January of that year. On April 24, Celera reported quarterly sales of $39.5 million while Applied Biosystems had sales of $552.6 million