Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014

No sooner had Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE  ) announced its successful purchase of KDR Biotech last week, then out came Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO  ) with a $13.6 billion bid to buy Life Technologies itself.

This morning, Life Technologies announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell itself to Thermo Fisher for $76 per share, or about $13.6 billion in total plus assumption of $2.2 billion in net debt. That assumption raises the deal value to $15.8 billion in total, easily trumping what was being reported last week as an estimated $11 billion bid for Life Technologies from private equity powerhouses Blackstone, Carlyle Group, and KKR.

The deal must be approved by shareholders and needs regulatory approval.

Thermo Fisher CEO Marc N. Casper was quoted in the company press release as saying that "Life Technologies enhances all three elements of our growth strategy: technological innovation, a unique customer value proposition and expansion in emerging markets." Life Technologies and Thermo Fisher say the deal will build on their "technological strengths to accelerate results for life sciences customers working in proteomics, genomics and cell biology."

Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Iris Biotechnologies(IRSB.OB)

Iris BioTechnologies Inc., a development stage life science company, focuses on developing solutions for the detection and monitoring of monogenic and complex genomic diseases. The company provides a Nano-BioChip gene expression kit using a convergence of scientific disciplines in nanotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, microfluidics, chemistry, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, and information technology; and BioWindows artificial intelligence system, a database comprising data fields for patient demographics information, personal and family medical history, and gene expression information. Its products assist in establishing the foundation for personalized medicine for the treatment of breast cancer. The company also intends to use its product platform to diagnose and treat patients with neurological disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and other gene-related metabolic problems. In addition, it is working on gene markers for CancerChip and specific markers assoc iated with prostrate, lung, liver, kidney, and ovarian cancers, as well as genes associated with schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, autoimmune system disorders, and metabolic and drug metabolism disorders. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Punch Taverns(PUB.L)

Punch Taverns plc, together with its subsidiaries, owns, manages, and leases pubs in the United Kingdom. The company leases licensed properties to retailers. It operates approximately 5,004 leased and tenanted pubs. Punch Taverns plc was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Burton upon Trent, the United Kingdom.

Top Low Price Stocks To Buy Right Now: Safeguard Scientifics Inc.(SFE)

Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in expansion financings, growth capital, management buyouts, recapitalizations, industry consolidations, corporate spinouts, growth stage, and early stage financings. The firm prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology and life sciences sectors. Within the technology sector, it invests in software as a service, technology enabled services, internet/new media, financial services information technology, healthcare information technology and selected business services with capital requirements of up to $25 million. Within the life sciences sector, the firm invests in molecular and point-of-care diagnostics, medical devices, regenerative medicine, and specialty pharmaceuticals, and selected healthcare services. It invests throughout United States and Southeastern Canada. The firm primarily invests between $10 million and $25 million in growth equity financing and betwe en $5 million and $10 million in early-stage financing. It typically invests in the capital structures including owner financed and bootstrapped companies, corporate division or business unit, and venture capital-backed seeking a growth partner. The firm prefers to be the largest shareholder in its portfolio companies, with ownership in the range of five percent to 50 percent. However, it may occasionally take a majority or smaller stake in its portfolio companies. It prefers to invest in companies having proprietary technology and intellectual property. The firm prefers to take a Board seat in its portfolio companies. It was formerly known as Lancaster Corporation. Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. was founded in 1953 and is based in Wayne, Pennsylvania with an additional office in Weston, Massachusetts.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Premuda(PRNI.MI)

Premuda SpA operates as a shipping company in Italy. The company transports liquid and dry goods in bulk employing its own ships and those of third parties. It also engages in crude oil floating, production, storage, and offloading business, which comprises the extraction of crude oil and gas. In addition, the company involves in the transportation of oil and derivative products. As of June 30, 2010, it had an owned fleet composed of 14 units; and a chartered fleet comprising four Handymax bulk carriers The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Genova, Italy.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Amedisys Inc(AMED)

Amedisys, Inc., a health care company, provides home health and hospice services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice. The Home Health segment offers various services in the homes of individuals who may be recovering from an illness, injury, or surgical procedure. This segment?s services include skilled nursing, home health aides, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medical social services; and chronic care clinical programs for patients with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, behavioral health, rehabilitative, and medical surgical conditions. The Hospice segment provides care that is designed to offer comfort and support for those who are facing a terminal illness, such as heart disease, pulmonary disease, dementia, Alzheimer?s, HIV/AIDS, or cancer. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 440 Medicare-certified home health care centers, 87 Medicare-certified hospice care centers, and 2 hospice inpatient units in 41 states within the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Amedisys, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.