Boston, MA — April 1, 2006 — Covington Associates LLC announced today that it acted as the buy-side advisor to Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (AMEX: IMA) in its acquisition of the ACON Laboratories, Inc. (ACON), an international rapid diagnostics company. The transaction is valued at $175 million in cash and stock.
Inverness Medical Innovations, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is a manufacturer and seller of consumer and professional diagnostic products focused on women’s health, cardiology and infectious disease. ACON is a researcher, developer, manufacturer and seller of a wide range of rapid diagnostics tests including fertility, infectious disease, and drugs of abuse. The acquisition also includes a manufacturing facility in Hangzhou, China. ACON’s products are marketed and sold in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Latin America. They also offer blood glucose monitoring systems, digital thermometers and automatic blood pressure monitors, and urinalysis worldwide. ACON prides itself on offering products that are high quality and low cost. Going forward, the Company will operate as a subsidiary of Inverness under the name Innovacon, Inc.
Tom Cibotti, a Managing Director at Covington Associates, was quoted as saying “The acquisition of ACON is part of Inverness’ strategy to build upon and grow its manufacturing base in China.”
About Inverness Medical Innovations
Inverness Medical Innovations is a leading global developer of advanced diagnostic devices and is presently exploring new opportunities for its proprietary electrochemical and other technologies in a variety of professional diagnostic and consumer-oriented applications including immuno-diagnostics with a focus on women’s health, cardiology and infectious disease. The Company’s new product development efforts, as well as its position as a leading supplier of consumer pregnancy and fertility/ovulation tests and rapid point-of-care diagnostics, are supported by the strength of its intellectual property portfolio. Inverness is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. For additional information on Inverness Medical Inc., please visit Inverness’ website at www.invernessmedical.com.
About Covington Associates LLC
Covington Associates is a specialty investment banking firm founded in 1991 serving business service, consumer, industrial, healthcare and technology companies throughout the country. Focused on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital raising, debt and equity restructuring, and strategic advisory assignments for middle market companies, Covington Associates has completed transactions ranging in value from $10 million to over $1 billion for both private and publicly traded companies. To learn more about Covington Associates, visit www.covingtonassociates.com.