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The scientific equipment maker Thermo Fisher agreed on Monday to buy a rival, Life Technologies Corporation, for $13.6 billion.

The deal will help the company expand its market share in the production of genetic sequencing machines, a fast-growing area. Scientists and drug companies use genetic sequencing to help create specialized medicines for patients.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in Waltham, Mass., is offering shareholders $76 for each of their shares in Life Technologies, 12 percent above the company’s closing stock price on Friday. The company said it would also assume about $2.2 billion in debt. Early this year, Life Technologies announced that it was undertaking a strategic review of its operations.

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The takeover is the latest in a series of deals for Thermo Fisher, which was itself created through the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific in 2006.

“The acquisition of Life Technologies enhances all three elements of our growth strategy: technological innovation, a unique customer value proposition and expansion in emerging markets,” Thermo Fisher’s chief executive, Marc N. Casper, said in a statement.

Thermo Fisher reportedly beat out a consortium of private equity firms, including the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and the biotechnology company Sigma-Aldrich.

Life Technologies manufacturers more than 50,000 different types of scientific equipment, including genetic sequencing and DNA analysis machines. The company, based in California, reported revenue of $3.8 billion in 2012.

One of the major winners from the takeover could be Paulson & Company, which owns around 8 percent of Life Technologies. Shares of Life Technologies have risen almost 50 percent in the last 12 months, and jumped nearly 8 percent, to $73.25, in early morning trading on Monday.

The deal for Life Technologies is expected to close early next year.

JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and the law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and WilmerHale advised Thermo Fisher on the deal, while Deutsche Bank, Moelis & Company and the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore advised Life Technologies.