Takara Bio USA Holdings, Inc. completes acquisition of Rubicon Genomics, Inc.

Mountain View, CA—January 18, 2017—Takara Bio USA Holdings, Inc. ("TBUSH") announced that it has completed the acquisition of Rubicon Genomics, Inc. ("Rubicon"). Rubicon has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of TBUSH as of January 17, 2017 (US local time).

The Takara Bio Group provides a wide range of life science products and services under the Takara, Clontech, and Cellartis brands that assist discovery, translational and clinical scientists in the advancement of their work. The Rubicon acquisition will allow the Takara Bio Group to augment and expand its worldwide commercial offerings in next generation sequencing (NGS) sample preparation and expand into new markets.

Under the merger agreement executed with Rubicon, TBUSH paid 75 million US dollars to acquire 100% of the equity in Rubicon. TBUSH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Takara Bio Inc. ("Takara Bio"), a leading global biotechnology and life science company headquartered in Shiga, Japan. Takara Bio USA, Inc. ("TBUSA") is a wholly owned subsidiary of TBUSH, and both TBUSA and TBUSH are part of the global Takara Bio Group. The impact of the acquisition on Takara Bio Inc.'s financial results in 2017 will be immaterial.

The Takara Bio Group provides a wide range of life science products and services under the Takara, Clontech, and Cellartis brands that assist discovery, translational, and clinical scientists in the advancement of their work. The Rubicon acquisition will allow the Takara Bio Group to augment and expand its worldwide commercial offerings in next generation sequencing (NGS) sample preparation and expand into new markets.

"We are pleased to announce the completion of this transaction and officially welcome Rubicon to the Takara Bio Group," said Carol Lou, President, TBUSA. "We are excited about the synergy between Rubicon's technologies and products and our own longstanding expertise and SMART-based portfolio of cDNA synthesis, low-input, and single cell RNA-seq products. We now have an expanded NGS and genetic analysis capabilities that strengthen our product portfolio and allow us to better serve the life science research market, as well as creating new opportunities for us to serve customers in IVF and other clinical markets. We are excited to move forward as one organization positioned for growth."

As previously communicated, Rubicon's technology is also complementary with the WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc. instrument platforms and technologies. TBUSH announced plans to acquire WaferGen in 2016, and anticipates that the merger will close in March 2017. The combined acquisitions are synergistic and will allow the Takara Bio Group to provide the exciting benefits of the combined portfolios to the life science community.

Advisors

GCA Advisors, LLC was exclusive financial advisor to TBUSH and BroadOak Partners, LLC was exclusive financial advisor to Rubicon. Morrison & Foerster LLP acted as legal counsel to TBUSH while Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP acted as legal counsel for Rubicon.

About Takara Bio Inc.

Takara Bio Inc. is an innovative biotechnology company based in Shiga, Japan. As a world leader in biotechnology research and development, Takara Bio was the first company to market PCR technology in Japan and is also the developer of the RetroNectin reagent, which is used as a world standard in gene therapy protocols. In addition to providing research reagents and equipment to the life science research market, Takara Bio has active research and product development activities in the fields of gene and cell-based therapy and agricultural biotechnology; and is committed to preventing disease and improving the quality of life for all people through the use of biotechnology. Through strategic alliances with other industry leaders, Takara Bio aims to extend its reach around the world. More information is available at takara-bio.com.

About Takara Bio USA, Inc.

Takara Bio USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Takara Bio Inc., develops, manufactures, and distributes a wide range of life science research reagents under the Takara, Clontech and Cellartis brands. Key products include SMARTer cDNA synthesis kits for a variety of samples and applications, including NGS; high-performance qPCR and PCR reagents (including the Takara Ex Taq, Takara LA Taq, Titanium, and Advantage enzymes); Cellartis stem cells and stem cell reagents; RT enzymes and SMART library construction kits; the innovative In-Fusion cloning system; Guide-it gene editing tools; Tet-based inducible gene expression systems; and Living Colors fluorescent proteins. These and other products support applications including NGS; gene discovery, regulation, and function studies; protein expression and purification; gene editing and stem cell studies; and plant and food research. For more information, visit takarabio.com.

About Rubicon Genomics

Rubicon Genomics develops innovative, high quality, nucleic acid library preparation and companion products for research applications that enable easy, reliable, and highly sensitive analysis of samples. Rubicon is committed to teamwork and continuous improvement to provide excellence to our customers, shareholders, and employees. Privately-held Rubicon is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, visit rubicongenomics.com.

For more information:
Corporate Communications, Takara Bio Inc.
E-mail: bio-ir@takara-bio.co.jp

This article is translated from a press release in Japanese for your convenience.

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