Idexx Laboratories Inc. said it has renegotiated the terms of itsproposed acquisition of the assets of VetTest S.A., whichmanufactures biochemical monitoring tests for the animalhealth care market.

Under the new terms, the purchase price would be $5 millionin cash and about 200,000 shares of newly issued Idexxcommon stock (NASDAQ:IDXX). VetTest, a privately held Swisscompany, would be entitled to 80,000 additional sharescontingent on performance measures. If the acquisition iscompleted, Idexx will have 6 million shares of stockoutstanding.

Under the previous terms, VetTest would have received $10million in cash and notes and about 350,000 shares of commonstock, plus an additional 150,000 shares based on performance.

"We've completed our due diligence, and what we found is it's avery young company and we'll have to put in more sales andmarketing effort than we originally thought," said John Deckro,Idexx chief financial officer. "We still like the product."

Idexx develops and sells biotechnology-based detectionsystems, primarily for animal health and food-qualityassurance applications.

The Westbrook, Maine, company also announced the expiration,as of Thursday, of agreements with certain stockholders thatprohibited the sale of 3.7 million shares of Idexx stock. Theagreements were in connection with Idexx's June initial publicoffering of 1.6 million shares priced at $15.

Idexx shares closed at $20.25, down 25 cents, on Friday. --Karen Bernstein

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.