StatLab Sold to Danaher’s Leica Biosystems

Leica Biosystems, an operating company of Danaher, has agreed to acquire StatLab Medical Products, a manufacturer of pre-analytical consumables and reagents for anatomic pathology laboratories, from Audax Private Equity and Linden Capital Partners, ending a five-year ownership in which the company completed nine acquisitions.

StatLab Medical Products manufactures pre-analytical products used across the full anatomic pathology workflow, supplying the consumables, reagents, and equipment that laboratories rely on to process and prepare tissue for diagnosis. The company’s customers include pathology, histology, cytology, and molecular diagnostics laboratories, along with original equipment manufacturers that build StatLab-made products into their own systems.

The company pairs a broad catalog of consumables and reagents with in-house manufacturing and technical service, a combination it deepened over recent years by bringing more production capability in-house. That self-manufacturing base supports thousands of laboratory and OEM customers across the United States and Europe.

StatLab, led by CEO Sung-Dae Hong, was founded in 1976 and is headquartered 30 miles north of Dallas in McKinney, Texas.

Audax and Linden partnered with StatLab in 2021, taking a business with a reputation for quality and building it into a scaled, self-manufacturing platform spanning the anatomic pathology workflow. During their ownership, StatLab expanded from a primarily U.S.-focused business into a global, integrated manufacturer, invested in its team, commercial function, and facilities, and completed nine add-on acquisitions.

“We are proud to have partnered with Linden and the StatLab team to build a distinguished global provider across the anatomic pathology workflow,” said  David Wong, a partner at Audax. “StatLab’s outstanding management team paired a disciplined acquisition strategy with meaningful investment in manufacturing and talent, and we believe the outcome reflects that work.”

“When we partnered with StatLab in 2021, we saw a company with a strong reputation for quality and service and an opportunity to build a scaled, self-manufacturing platform spanning the anatomic pathology workflow,” said Joe Bernardo, the Chairman of StatLab and a Linden operating partner. “It has been a privilege to work alongside this team as they executed that vision. StatLab today is a stronger, more global, and more innovative company, and I am confident it will continue to thrive as part of Leica Biosystems and Danaher.”

“I want to thank Audax and Linden for supporting our team with the investment and committing resources to help accelerate growth,” said Mr. Hong. “I am incredibly proud of what our people have accomplished and of the trust our laboratory, distribution, and OEM customers place in us every day. Joining Danaher, through Leica Biosystems, is a testament to that work, and our mission remains unchanged.”

“I want to congratulate Joe, Dae, and the entire StatLab organization on this milestone,” said Kam Shah, a partner at Linden Capital. “Over the course of our investment, the team built a dual-continent manufacturing footprint, expanded the product portfolio, and strengthened its reputation with customers. We thank our partners at Audax for their collaboration throughout, and we’re proud to see StatLab’s growth culminate in this transaction.”

The buyer of StatLab, Leica Biosystems, is a cancer diagnostics company focused on anatomic and digital pathology, with a portfolio spanning the tissue-to-diagnosis workflow that pathology laboratories and clinicians use to diagnose cancer. The company is a subsidiary of publicly traded life sciences company Danaher (NYSE: DHR).

Demand for anatomic pathology products is tracking the rising global cancer burden and the shift toward tissue-based diagnostics. The U.S. anatomic pathology market was valued at about $11.9 billion in 2026 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of roughly 7.2% through 2035, according to Grand View Research. Reagents and consumables represent the single largest segment, at close to half of revenue, reflecting the repeated, high-volume use of fixatives, stains, and reagents in routine tissue processing, a profile that favors manufacturers with scaled in-house production.

Audax is a Boston-based private equity firm founded in 1999 that invests in North American middle market companies with EBITDA of $20 million to $80 million. As of January 2026 the firm managed approximately $19.5 billion of assets and had invested in more than 180 platforms and more than 1,500 add-on acquisitions. Audax closed its seventh flagship fund at $5.25 billion in 2023.

Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm founded in 2004 that invests exclusively in healthcare. The firm has invested in more than 50 healthcare companies across more than 400 transactions. Linden closed its sixth fund at $5.4 billion in April 2025.

Moelis & Company served as exclusive financial advisor to StatLab.