Loveland’s Heska buys Boulder-based LightDeck Diagnostics for nearly $40M

LOVELAND — Veterinary products supplier Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) didn’t have to look far for its latest acquisition target; just a bit south to Boulder and diagnostic-testing company MBio Diagnostics Inc., which does business as LightDeck Diagnostics. 

The deal is valued at about $38.7 million and is expected to close in the first half of 2023.

“We are thrilled to welcome the entire LightDeck team to Heska. We have known and closely followed their success for years and we are happy to fully join with them today as one team focused on supercharging their great work. LightDeck brings to Heska best-in-breed, highly scalable manufacturing and world-class assay development to help drive our strategies for winning at innovation and winning at scale,” commented Kevin Wilson, Heska’s president and chief executive.

The acquired company, which has a team of 80 employees, has developed the LightDeck testing platform that combines an advanced laser waveguide with novel materials to conduct rapid testing, and has developed numerous diagnostic tests, including some developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

LightDeck, which began expanding into Longmont last year, also is developing a rapid test to detect many per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which can cause cancer, hormone disruption, liver and kidney toxicity, harm to the immune system, and reproductive and developmental toxicity.

In 2021, the company began planning a $37.5 million, 200-worker operation at 1844 Nelson Road in Longmont, a 65,000-square-foot leased building that was formerly home to a division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

The LightDeck acquisition by Heska comes on the heels of a January 2022 acquisition of German veterinarian practice management software company VetZ GmbH.

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