May 17 (Reuters) – Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a sizeable stake in U.S. diagnostics supplier Bio-Rad Laboratories, and plans to push the company to boost its underperforming stock price, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Bio-Rad’s shares have fallen more than 18% so far this year.
Elliott has also built a stake in German biopharma equipment supplier Sartorius in which Bio-Rad is an investor, the WSJ report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Elliott, Bio-Rad, and Sartorius did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The exact size of Elliott’s shareholding in Bio-Rad or Sartorius was not disclosed in the report.
The U.S. activist, which has been quite active in the healthcare sector, believes Sartorius is a high-quality business with strong growth potential, the report said.
Bio-Rad recently lowered its 2026 revenue growth outlook after posting a first-quarter net loss of $527 million. The company attributed the change in the fair market value of its Sartorius AG investment.
Bio-Rad shares closed at $246.53 on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of $6.69 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi Aich)
