June 9, 2003 – Caliper Technologies Corp. expects its planned acquisition of Zymark Corp. to provide a commercial outlet for Caliper’s lab-on-a-chip technology and a portal to profitability by the end of 2005.

Caliper, a Mountain View, Calif.-based pioneer in microfluidic-based devices, announced Monday it would buy Hopkinton, Mass.-based Zymark for $57 million and 3.15 million shares of Caliper’s stock. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, also provides for a potential additional earn-out of up to 1.575 million Caliper shares if Zymark products meet sales targets.

As part of the deal, which is expected to close in the next few weeks, Zymark will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Caliper and continue to sell its lab automation and robotics products under the Zymark name. Caliper will move its headquarters to Hopkinton, but keep its Mountain View facility for R&D and chip manufacturing, the company said. Kevin Hrusovsky, Zymark’s chief executive, will become CEO of Caliper once the deal is closed. Caliper CEO Michael Knapp will become chief technical officer.

Caliper, which has suffered significant losses since its launch in 1995 and has accumulated a deficit of $95.5 million, said it hopes that the purchase brings immediate financial benefits. Zymark, a unit of The Berwind Co. LLC, had revenues of $65.4 million in 2002. It had an operating loss of $100,000, but that included a one-time charge of $5 million.

Caliper, listed on the Nasdaq, was trading at 4.40 mid-day, down from Friday’s close at 4.98.