Charles River Laboratories To Sell Certain European Discovery Services Assets And CDMO and Cell Solutions Businesses To IQVIA In Separate Transactions
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to sell certain European Discovery Services assets as well as the CDMO and Cell Solutions businesses in separate transactions.
James C. Foster, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to announce these planned divestitures today to demonstrate our continued progress on the actions outlined as part of the comprehensive strategic review conducted last year. We have decided to divest these assets after carefully evaluating our core capabilities and determining those that will drive the most synergistic growth with our broader portfolio going forward. We believe these actions will refine and further strengthen our portfolio, and will also enhance shareholder value by executing on our plans to drive long-term growth, greater efficiency, and operational excellence."
Planned Divestiture of CDMO and Cell Solutions Businesses
Charles River has signed a definitive agreement to divest its CDMO and Cell Solutions businesses to GI Partners, primarily for future, contingent performance-based payments. The CDMO business provides services related to the production of advanced therapies for gene-modified cell therapies, as well as gene therapies including viral vectors and plasmid DNA; and the Cell Solutions business provides human-derived cellular materials used in the development and production of cell therapies.
The Company will sell its CDMO sites in Tennessee, Maryland, and the United Kingdom and its Cell Solutions site in California. The businesses generated combined annual revenue of $143 million in 2025, including $117 million in the Manufacturing Solutions segment and $26 million in the Research Models and Services (RMS) segment. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
Planned Divestiture of Certain European Discovery Services Assets
Separately, Charles River has signed a definitive agreement to divest certain European assets within its Discovery Services business to IQVIA Holdings Inc. for approximately $145 million in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. In addition to the initial proceeds, the transaction includes potential additional payments to Charles River of up to $10 million. The Company will sell certain discovery services capabilities totaling $144 million in 2025 annual revenue in the Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) segment, and the transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
The Company plans to divest five European sites that include certain discovery services capabilities in the following areas:
- In vitro drug discovery services that primarily include medicinal chemistry and structural biology services (Cambridge, UK site); and
- Certain pharmacology services, primarily in the areas of oncology, neuroscience, immunology, and advanced cell biology (Freiburg, Germany; Kuopio, Finland; Portishead, UK; and Leiden, Netherlands sites).
Charles River will retain other drug discovery capabilities totaling approximately 40% of its Discovery Services revenue in 2025.
Updates 2026 Guidance
The Company is updating its financial guidance for 2026, which was initially provided on February 18, 2026, for the impact of the planned divestitures. The updated financial guidance assumes both transactions close during the second quarter of 2026. The planned divestitures are expected to reduce reported revenue by slightly more than $200 million in 2026, including more than a 50-basis-point reduction to organic revenue growth guidance. The transactions are expected to generate at least 100 basis points of incremental non-GAAP operating margin improvement in 2026 and add approximately $0.10 to non-GAAP earnings per share for the partial year.
he Company's updated 2026 guidance for revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share is as follows:
| 2026 GUIDANCE INCLUDING THE IMPACT OF THE PLANNED DIVESTITURES (1) | |
| Revenue growth, reported (prior) | At Least Flat to +1.5% |
| Less: Revenue impact from planned divestitures | ~(5.0)% |
| Revenue growth/(decrease) including divestiture impact, reported | (5.0)% - (3.5)% |
| Revenue growth/(decrease), organic (prior) | (1.0)% to At Least Flat |
| Less: Organic revenue impact from planned divestitures | >(0.5)% |
| Revenue growth/(decrease) including divestiture impact, organic | (1.5)% - (0.5)% |
| Charles River non-GAAP EPS estimate (prior) | $10.70 - $11.20 |
| Plus: Accretion from planned divestitures (partial year) | ~$0.10 |
| Non-GAAP EPS estimate including impact of planned divestitures (2) | $10.80 - $11.30 |