GE to sell its biopharma business for $21.4B
General Electric is set to shed its biopharma business. The company on Monday announced an agreement to sell the biopharma division of its GE Life Sciences unit to Danaher Corporation for $21.4 billion.
GE said it expects to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce leverage and strengthen its balance sheet. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the company.
In 2018, the GE biopharma business generated revenues of approximately $3 billion. It is a leading provider of instruments, consumables and software that support the research, discovery, process development and manufacturing workflows of biopharmaceutical drugs. The business comprises process chromatography hardware and consumables, cell culture media, single use technologies, development instrumentation and consumables, and service.
“Today’s transaction is a pivotal milestone. It demonstrates that we are executing on our strategy by taking thoughtful and deliberate action to reduce leverage and strengthen our balance sheet," GE chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said. “We are retaining full flexibility for growth and strategic optionality with one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, and we are pleased that our BioPharma colleagues will join a strong, established team at Danaher. A more focused portfolio is the right structure for GE, and we have many options for maximizing shareholder value along the way.”
Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, currently part of GE Life Sciences, will remain within the GE Healthcare portfolio. This business supplies contrast media and molecular imaging consumables for radiology customers It is highly complementary to GE Healthcare’s medical imaging business. GE’s pharmaceutical imaging agents are used in approximately 90 million patient procedures each year, the company said.
“The biopharma business has been a strong contributor to our success, and I am confident this agreement represents a great opportunity for our valued colleagues to flourish under the ownership of Danaher. GE Healthcare has unsurpassed scale and scope and we will continue to focus on our investments so that we deliver better outcomes and more capacity to a world striving for precision health,” GE Healthcare president and CEO Kieran Murphy said.
GE Healthcare has a global installed base of more than 4 million imaging, mobile diagnostic and monitoring units. In 2018 this business, excluding BioPharma, generated approximately $17 billion of revenue with mid-teens operating profit margins. The business is a leader in imaging, monitoring and diagnostics, and also provides services, accessories, consumables, education, training and consulting, the company said.
GE said it expects to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce leverage and strengthen its balance sheet. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the company.
In 2018, the GE biopharma business generated revenues of approximately $3 billion. It is a leading provider of instruments, consumables and software that support the research, discovery, process development and manufacturing workflows of biopharmaceutical drugs. The business comprises process chromatography hardware and consumables, cell culture media, single use technologies, development instrumentation and consumables, and service.
“Today’s transaction is a pivotal milestone. It demonstrates that we are executing on our strategy by taking thoughtful and deliberate action to reduce leverage and strengthen our balance sheet," GE chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. said. “We are retaining full flexibility for growth and strategic optionality with one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, and we are pleased that our BioPharma colleagues will join a strong, established team at Danaher. A more focused portfolio is the right structure for GE, and we have many options for maximizing shareholder value along the way.”
Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, currently part of GE Life Sciences, will remain within the GE Healthcare portfolio. This business supplies contrast media and molecular imaging consumables for radiology customers It is highly complementary to GE Healthcare’s medical imaging business. GE’s pharmaceutical imaging agents are used in approximately 90 million patient procedures each year, the company said.
“The biopharma business has been a strong contributor to our success, and I am confident this agreement represents a great opportunity for our valued colleagues to flourish under the ownership of Danaher. GE Healthcare has unsurpassed scale and scope and we will continue to focus on our investments so that we deliver better outcomes and more capacity to a world striving for precision health,” GE Healthcare president and CEO Kieran Murphy said.
GE Healthcare has a global installed base of more than 4 million imaging, mobile diagnostic and monitoring units. In 2018 this business, excluding BioPharma, generated approximately $17 billion of revenue with mid-teens operating profit margins. The business is a leader in imaging, monitoring and diagnostics, and also provides services, accessories, consumables, education, training and consulting, the company said.