Who Owns Fisher Scientific?

Chester G. Fisher founded the Scientific Materials Company in Pittsburgh in 1902, selling laboratory equipment and chemicals to industrial and academic labs. The company, renamed Fisher Scientific, expanded through the twentieth century as a catalog distributor, building warehouses and logistics that made it a one-stop shop for laboratory supplies.

Fisher went through several ownership changes. It was acquired by Allied Corporation in 1981, became part of The Henley Group, and was spun off to shareholders in 1991 as an independent public company. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Fisher grew by acquiring regional distributors in the U.S. and Europe and by building its Fisherbrand private label.

The pivotal event came in May 2006, when Thermo Electron announced a $10.6 billion merger with Fisher Scientific to form Thermo Fisher Scientific. The deal paired Thermo's instrument manufacturing with Fisher's dominant distribution channel, a combination that gave the merged company unusual reach: competitors' instruments were often sold through Fisher's catalog.

Under Thermo Fisher, Fisher Scientific remained the distribution identity while instruments took the Thermo Scientific name. The channel expanded into healthcare distribution, cleanroom supplies, and e-commerce through fishersci.com and regional platforms such as fishersci.eu and fishersci.co.uk. As of 2026 it remains one of the largest laboratory supply channels in the world.