Cooper Cos. of Palo Alto has reached...

Cooper Cos. of Palo Alto has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Technicon unit to a subsidiary of Bayer USA Inc. in a deal estimated at $500 million, the companies announced. Miles Inc., a health-care company headquartered in Elkhart, Ind., will buy all of the capital stock of Cooper Technicon Inc. for $212 million in cash. In addition, Cooper Technicon’s outstanding debt, estimated at $288 million, will be eliminated, the companies said. Cooper Technicon, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., develops, manufactures and markets automated medical diagnostic systems.