Profitable 20-Year Specialty Reagent Business - Proprietary Chemistry, Blue-Chip Clinical Anchor, Scientific Operator Required

We're advising on a sell-side mandate for a profitable, founder-led specialty reagent business in the life sciences tools space. The business has been organically built over 20 years with no external capital and is now in transition as the scientist-founder steps back. Business characteristics: 20 years of operating history; organically profitable since inception ~90% gross margins on proprietary, non-antibody chemistry (core product line) ~60%+ revenue CAGR over the past five years from a Fortune-500 clinical reference lab anchor (~55% of end-user demand) Distribution through tier-one global channels including Fisher Scientific 4 part time employees, 1 full time; lean cost structure; founder-operator model Products are embedded in customer workflows where switching costs are structural - researchers will not change reagents mid-experiment, creating a real moat that doesn't depend on marketing spend. Buyer profile: This is a science-anchored business, not a generic SMB. Customer relationships, product development, distribution partner conversations, and ongoing R&D direction all require operating leadership with credible scientific background - typically a PhD or equivalent in biochemistry, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, or a related life sciences discipline. Buyers without in-house technical capability will need to bring credentialed scientific leadership as part of the acquisition. The retiring founder is available to consult post-close, but the business cannot run on commercial leadership alone - the chemistry, the workflow integration, and the customer trust all depend on continued scientific credibility at the operator level. Founder situation: Scientist-founder seeking a clean exit, willing to consult post-close on technical transition. The commercial side of the business is run by an experienced VP with deep customer relationships. The combination supports either operator-led continuation or platform integration.