Life sciences firm Danaher Company (NYSE:DHR) has expressed curiosity in buying the contract producer Catalent (NYSE:CTLT), Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing folks aware of the matter.

In accordance with the sources, the latest strikes by the Washington-based firm have valued Catalent (CTLT) at a major premium. It’s unclear how Catalent (CTLT) will reply to Danaher’s (DHR) overtures or whether it is enthusiastic about a takeover provide.

A deal between the 2 corporations, which performed a key function through the pandemic, just isn’t imminent, the folks stated, asking for anonymity because the matter stays non-public.

“As a matter of firm coverage, Catalent doesn’t touch upon market rumors or hypothesis,” an organization spokesperson stated, whereas Danaher (DHR) did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

Catalent (CTLT) helped produce COVID-19 vaccines as a contract producer for corporations similar to Moderna (MRNA) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) through the pandemic.

After surging in worth through the preliminary levels of the pandemic, the corporate shares have misplaced about 60% since September 2021 peak.

In the meantime, Danaher (DHR) has but to announce a significant M&A transaction since 2021, when it acquired Aldevron, a privately held firm targeted on producing nucleic acids and proteins, for $6.9B in money.

Searching for Alpha contributor, Felix Fung argued lately that Danaher’s (DHR) “newest earnings present little or no top-line progress and (its) steerage signifies an extra slowdown in total progress as a consequence of sturdy headwinds from COVID-related merchandise.”