Thermo Fisher obtains clearance for its $4.1 billion acquisition of Solventum’s Purification and Filtration Business

Compass Lexecon advised Thermo Fisher Scientific (‘Thermo Fisher’) and Solventum in the context of Thermo Fisher’s acquisition of Solventum’s Purification and Filtration business in the bioprocessing filtration sector. The transaction received clearance from the European Commission and raised no objections from a number of other competition authorities, including the UK’s CMA and authorities in the United States, Japan, and Brazil.

Situation

In February 2025, Thermo Fisher, a global manufacturer and supplier of life sciences products, signed a transaction agreement to acquire the Purification and Filtration arm of Solventum (the ‘Target’). The Target is a provider of purification and filtration technologies used in the production of biologics as well as in medical technologies and industrial applications. Thermo Fisher and the Target (‘the Parties’) focus on products using different technologies in the bioprocessing workflows. The merger of their complementary businesses will strengthen Thermo Fisher’s capabilities in the development and manufacturing of biologics.

Our Role

A Compass Lexecon team provided economic advice to the Parties and their external counsel (Latham & Watkins and Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider for Thermo Fisher, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for the Target) since the pre-notification stage across all jurisdictions. We analysed both supply and purchasing shares across a range of plausible markets in which the Parties operate and for all relevant jurisdictions, relying on internal sales data and third-party sources. We also conducted analyses to identify potential vertical overlaps between the Parties’ broad product portfolios.

In addition to the various merger control investigations, we also supported the legal teams in obtaining the Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) clearance in France, Germany, and Italy.

Outcome

The transaction received regulatory approvals in all jurisdictions, including from the European Commission in Europe, under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in the US, and based on a briefing paper for the CMA decision in the UK. In addition, it received all the relevant FDI clearances.

The Team

The Compass Lexecon team in Europe was led by Jorge Padilla, Lorenzo Coppi and Roman Fischer, and included Joanna Hornik, Manuel Zanoni, Balram Sennik, Corentin Lemaire, Chiara Gilardi, Pietro Aletti, Kitti Perger, Noorah Alfaris, and Jad Benmoussa. The Compass Lexecon team in China was led by Vanessa Zhang, and included Rita Li, Richard Zhao, Cecilia Li, and Joshua Phoon.

We worked closely with the teams at Latham & Watkins and Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider advising Thermo Fisher, led by Sven Völcker, Simon Pritchard, and Anthemis Economou in Europe, and Craig D. Minerva and Mark D. Alexander in the U.S. We also cooperated with the team at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advising the Target.