Clinical diagnostic tools manufacturer Bio-Rad Laboratories has agreed to buy AbD Serotec for €53m ($69.7m) in cash.

The transaction, signed under the definitive agreement, is subject to certain closing conditions and is expected to be closed in January 2013.

Bio-Rad life science group president Brad Crutchfield said AbD Serotec is involved in manufacturing quality products of over 15,000 antibodies, kits, and accessories.

"With this acquisition, Bio-Rad will have access to a comprehensive catalog of antibodies allowing us to better serve our customers by offering total assay solutions that can be validated on our research platforms for western blotting, multiplex protein expression, ELISA, and cell sorting," Crutchfield added.

"In addition, we will be able to exploit a powerful in vitro technology to accelerate future antibody generation."