PerkinElmer to split shares 2-for-1

BOSTON (Bloomberg) — PerkinElmer Inc., a maker of laboratory instruments and research tools for the pharmaceutical industry, will split its shares 2-for-1 after its stock price more than doubled last year. The split, the company’s second since 1992, will entitle each shareholder of record as of May 15 to receive one additional share of common stock for each share owned, said company spokesman Chris Keenan. Shareholders will vote on the proposal on April 24. The shares would be payable on or about June 1, the company said. The company said it had 51.9 million shares outstanding as of Dec. 31. PerkinElmer’s shares soared in 2000 as it developed more tools, instruments, and test kits geared toward gene analysis and drug development. Its $400 million acquisition in August of NEN Life Science Inc. made PerkinElmer the world’s third-largest supplier of drug discovery tools, behind Applera Corp.’s Applied Biosystems Group and Nycomed Amersham Plc, the company said. PerkinElmer, which is based in Boston also has a facility in Rhode Island. Its shares were trading at $92.30 last week.