Harvard Bioscience, Inc. Acquires Coulbourn Instruments -- a Leading Manufacturer of Systems Used in the Behavioral Research Market

HOLLISTON, Mass., Aug. 23, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvard Bioscience, Inc. HBIO, a global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of tools to advance life science research and regenerative medicine, today announced that it has acquired the business of Coulbourn Instruments through a purchase of substantially all of Coulbourn's assets.

Coulbourn Instruments is a privately held manufacturer of behavioral measurement products, with a strong focus on systems for assessing learning and memory utilized in research laboratories. This acquisition is complementary to the current Harvard Apparatus behavior research products, thereby strengthening the company's position in this approximate $40-50 million market. 

Chane Graziano, CEO of Harvard Bioscience, commented, "The acquisition of Coulbourn provides us another well established brand in our portfolio of products and enables us to provide our customers a broader range of tools, expanded technical support and a strong direct sales team in the behavior research market. Additionally, we expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive to earnings and, going forward, we expect to add approximately $4 million in annual revenues."

Paul Mazzucco, President of Coulbourn Instruments, added, "We are delighted to join the Harvard Bioscience family of companies. Coulbourn's  U.S. presence, manufacturing and distribution capabilities and Harvard's behavioral product portfolio complement each other well. We expect that the combination of both companies' strengths will produce an environment for accelerated growth going forward. Coulbourn has achieved an almost 40 year history of leadership in the Behavioral Sciences market and I can think of no company better suited to deliver our commitment to customer satisfaction and quality standards to a broader global market than Harvard Bioscience. We are proud to be part of the team and look forward to what the future holds."

About Harvard Bioscience

Harvard Bioscience ("HBIO") is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialized products, primarily apparatus and scientific instruments, used to advance life science research and regenerative medicine. HBIO sells its products to thousands of researchers in over 100 countries primarily through its 850 page catalog (and various other specialty catalogs), its website, through distributors, including GE Healthcare, Thermo Fisher Scientific and VWR, and via our field sales organization. HBIO has sales and manufacturing operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain with additional facilities in France and Canada. For more information, please visit www.harvardbioscience.com.

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Forward-looking Statements

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These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include the Company's inability to integrate the business acquired from Coulbourn Instruments, the failure of the business acquired from Coulbourn Instruments to perform in accordance with management's beliefs or expectations, the existence and size of opportunities in the behavior research market, the Company's failure to successfully expand its product offerings, introduce new products or commercialize new technologies, including in the field of regenerative medicine, decreased demand for the Company's products, including products in the field of regenerative medicine, due to changes in our customers' needs, our ability to obtain regulatory approvals, including FDA approval, for our products, including any products in the field of regenerative medicine, the current size or anticipated size of the regenerative medicine market, the existence and size of opportunities in the regenerative medicine market, our financial position, general economic outlook or other circumstances, overall economic trends, our ability to manage our growth, competition from our competitors, technological changes resulting in our products becoming obsolete, our ability to protect our intellectual property and operate without infringing on others' intellectual property, potential costs of any lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, research funding levels from endowments at our university customers, plus factors described under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 or described in the Company's other public filings. The Company's results may also be affected by factors of which the Company is not currently aware. The Company may not update these forward-looking statements, even though its situation may change in the future, unless it has obligations under the federal securities laws to update and disclose material developments related to previously disclosed information.

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