Beckman Instruments

Beckman Instruments Inc.'s board has increased the company's quarterly dividend and extended through 1998 the company's program to buy back up to 1 million shares a year. The dividend, which was increased to 13 cents a share from 11 cents a share, is payable March 7 to shareholders of record Feb. 16. The company, which develops and markets automated systems and supplies used for biological analysis, said the stock buyback program is used to fund existing stock-oriented employee benefit plans.

Beckman Coulter Inc., a Fullerton company that makes testing instruments used in hospital labs, announced Sunday that it would acquire another biomedical firm, Biosite Inc., for $1.55 billion. In a combination that would strengthen its position in the medical diagnostic field, Beckman said it would acquire all the San Diego company's stock in a cash offer of $85 a share -- a 53% premium over Biosite's closing stock price of $55.38 on Friday.

Beckman Instruments Inc., a maker and worldwide distributor of automated systems and laboratory and diagnostic supplies, said Monday that it earned $10.3 million, or 36 cents a share, for the first quarter. The profit was more than double the net income of $4.7 million, or 17 cents a share, for last year's first three months. Quarterly sales rose to $205 million this year from $198.6 million. The Fullerton company's earnings were dampened by a special charge of $3.

A campus memorial service for Arnold O. Beckman will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus in Pasadena. A reception will follow in the Glanville Courtyard of the Beckman Institute. Beckman, who was founder and president of Beckman Instruments, chairman emeritus of the Caltech Board of Trustees and an inventor, scientist, philanthropist and business leader, died May 18 at 104.

Beckman Instruments Inc. said Wednesday that it again is trimming the work force at its Fullerton headquarters--this time by 48 jobs, including 33 layoffs--in a move designed to cut costs and realign the company's support services structure. The company, a division of SmithKline Beckman Corp., already has laid off 144 workers in Orange County this year and has cut about 1,000 jobs from its county payroll since Beckman merged with Philadelphia-based SmithKline in 1982.

Beckman Instruments Inc. said Thursday that it has signed a dealer agreement to market its products in Vietnam. The dealer, Europ Continents, also buys and resells Beckman equipment in Laos and Cambodia. Fullerton-based Beckman makes diagnostic equipment for hospitals and bioresearch equipment for life sciences laboratories. The Asia-Pacific market, which makes up 13% of Beckman's business, is the fastest-growing region in the medical equipment industry, the company said.

Citing a worldwide slump in government spending on medical research programs, Beckman Instruments said Thursday it will eliminate about 150 positions, or 2% of its 7,400 jobs, by the end of the year. All the cuts will be in the company's bioanalytical group, which produces esoteric instruments used largely in university and government medical and biological research programs.

Beckman Instruments and Allergan Inc., two Orange County firms that joined the company now known as SmithKline Beckman Corp. over the last decade, will become independent once again as the pharmaceutical giant spins off the two businesses. SmithKline said it plans to turn over its Beckman and Allergan subsidiaries to its shareholders. SmithKline shareholders will be given one share of newly created Allergan stock for every two SmithKline shares they now own, and they'll get one share of Beckman stock for every 5.5 of their SmithKline shares.

Louis T. Rosso has been with Beckman Instruments for 35 years and has been at its helm since the medical instrument maker was spun off from SmithKline Beckman Corp. in 1989. Under Rosso's direction, Beckman has aggressively established itself in Europe and Asia. Because of the push into global markets, about 55% of the company's revenue comes from overseas sales. Rosso also has strong views about the effect of health care reforms on the medical device industry.

Beckman Instruments Inc. signed a five-year purchasing contract with AmeriNet Inc. to provide laboratory chemistry systems and supplies. Beckman estimates sales of $100 million over the five-year contract period. AmeriNet is a health-care purchasing organization. Fullerton-based Beckman Instruments provides instrument systems, chemistries, software and supplies.

Inventor Arnold O. Beckman was eulogized Friday for his generosity and intellect during an amazing life that spanned 104 years, from his childhood on an Illinois farm to his scientific discoveries to his enduring philanthropy.

Arnold O. Beckman, the scientific visionary whose inventions transformed chemistry and made him so wealthy that he became one of the country's major philanthropists, died Tuesday. He was 104. The founder of Beckman Instruments and a major benefactor of Caltech -- whose accomplishments ranged from perfecting measuring devices capable of unlocking the secrets of life to sniffing out the ingredients of smog -- died at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla.

Arnold Beckman tries but it does no good. There's a short somewhere, something wrong with the switches, and the memories just won't come. Glimmers are all he can muster, frustratingly quick flashes that don't connect with each other, don't connect with anything, that just flicker and sparkle and then go out. Problem is, the machine is shot. And Beckman, who turns 100 on April 10, knows it. Time keeps going but the body and mind don't, and there's not a damned thing he can do about it.

Beckman Instruments Inc. signed a five-year purchasing contract with AmeriNet Inc. to provide laboratory chemistry systems and supplies. Beckman estimates sales of $100 million over the five-year contract period. AmeriNet is a health-care purchasing organization. Fullerton-based Beckman Instruments provides instrument systems, chemistries, software and supplies.

Beckman Instruments said Monday it has completed its acquisition of Coulter Corp. of Miami for about $1.15 billion in cash and assumed debt. Beckman said it paid $875 million in cash and assumed about $275 million in debt to acquire closely held Coulter, a leading maker of hematology systems to analyze blood cells. The new company is called Beckman Coulter, and the combined companies generated sales of $1.7 billion last year.

In a $1.15-billion melding of two major medical diagnostic equipment makers, Beckman Instruments Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to purchase privately owned Coulter Corp. of Miami to create a formidable force in a highly competitive market. The combined companies, to be called Beckman Coulter Inc., will manufacture instruments that can perform almost all of the routine blood analysis and diagnostic tests done in medical laboratories around the world.

Beckman Instruments Sued for $150 Million: Two scientists who spent more than 12 years working with Beckman Instruments on a cancer detection test are seeking $150 million in damages in a lawsuit that alleges breach of contract by the Fullerton-based company. The suit filed in Superior Court in Santa Ana by Boris and Lea Cercekalleges that Beckman "materially breached" its contractual obligations to the couple in late 1994 when it suddenly stopped research into the early detection technology.

Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, founder of Fullerton-based Beckman Instruments and a leading philanthropist, was presented with the Illinois Institute of Technology's Henry Townley Heald Award. The award, named for IIT's first president, is presented annually by the university to an individual for professional and personal achievements. Beckman, a native of Illinois, attended the University of Illinois and in 1928 received his doctorate in photochemistry from Caltech.

Beckman Instruments Inc. posted a 14% earnings increase for the first quarter on a 3% sales gain. The company, which designs and makes laboratory instrument systems and related products for research, said net income totaled $15.6 million, or 54 cents a share, up from $13.7 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. Sales grew to $231.9 million from $224.8 million.

Beckman Instruments Inc. said it purchased a French product line to expand its offerings of medical tests and lab equipment. The Fullerton laboratory supplier bought Paris-based Sanofi's line of lab tests and instruments for diagnosing and treating immune-system ailments. The product line--including tests for thyroid troubles, infectious diseases, and 30 other conditions--will make a modest contribution to Beckman's revenue from medical lab supplies, its largest market.