Street View: Waters’ $17.5 billion merger draws both optimism and caution
Lab equipment maker Waters Corp WAT.N will merge with Becton, Dickinson and Company's BDX.N Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions business in a stock and cash deal valued at $17.5 billion, the companies said on Monday
Shares of WAT closed 13.8% lower on Monday
At least 2 brokerages cut PT on WAT
FODDER FOR THE BULLS AND THE BEARS
Leerink Partners ("outperform") says investors familiar with WAT CEO Udit Batra's orchestration of the Merck KGaA MRCG.DE - Sigma Aldrich deal are more likely to find comfort in the BDX deal
"Simply put – investors do expect the business to perform far better under WAT than with BDX" - Leerink
Jefferies ("buy", PT: $435) expects the story in the near term to stay noisy with debates around synergies and growth
"Perhaps not surprising given the size of the deal, we have seen fodder for the bulls and the bears as investors digest the news"- Jefferies
Morningstar (fair value: $330) says WAT may be paying too much, even when considering aggressive synergy targets, and believes BDX's business looks like a lower quality than WAT's legacy business
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