Unsurprisingly, Cytyc Buys Digene

As a small company with a strong presence in its niche, Cytyc receives a high multiple for its revenues, which gives it the equity for M&A. And both it and Digene, another player in cervical cancer screening, knew they could realize strategic synergies by combining and leveraging product offerings and marketing and distribution channels. But whether or not Cytyc succeeds in driving the growth of Digene's test for HPV, the cause of cervical cancer, and uses Digene's Hybrid Capture platform technology to enable a broader play in women's health, Cytyc is demonstrating an ability to craft potentially transforming deals-the kind a larger diagnostics or medical device company can't easily make by acquiring line extensions in niche markets.