Possible Deal Would Make Major Player in Lab Tools

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and ANDREW POLLACK
Published: May 7, 2006

Fisher Scientific International, a supplier of medical laboratory equipment, is near a deal to merge with Thermo Electron Corporation, a rival, in a deal valued at about $11 billion, people involved in the transaction said.

The deal would create a new giant in the laboratory instrument business, an industry that has already been marked by some degree of consolidation. Both Thermo Electron and Fisher have been active in buying smaller scientific instrument and chemical companies.