Why Life Technologies' Shares Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies advanced as much as 13% after announcing possible intentions to sell the company.

So what: Affirmed by a vote from its board of directors, Life Technologies has decided to retain both Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Company to aid it in its annual strategic review -- often a Wall Street clue for "we're shopping ourselves around." As noted by my Foolish colleague Keith Speights, the Financial Post is reporting that at least four private-equity firms are showing interest in Life Technologies, including Blackstone, KKR, TPG Capital, and Carlyle Investment Management.

Now what: As usual, now you hurry up and wait because strategic reviews often end in the company doing nothing just as often as it ends in a buyout or merger. In our weekly analyst debate, Fools Travis Hoium, Alex Planes, and I came to the conclusion that Life Technologies offers revolutionary genome sequencing technology at the right price precisely as we're seeing an explosion in clinical research. Life Technologies isn't anywhere near as cheap as it was when we first selected it with a CAPScall of outperform, but its growth prospects moving forward appear strong enough that I would just consider holding steady rather than make any hasty moves because of this announcement.

Craving more input? Start by adding Life Technologies to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

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The article Why Life Technologies' Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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