Report: BD To Sell Respiratory Device Business After CareFusion Merger

By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq

Medical device and supplies manufacturer Becton Dickinson (BD) is reportedly preparing to sell its respiratory device unit in the wake of its deal to acquire CareFusion.

Bloomberg recently learned from unnamed sources with knowledge of BD’s plans that the company is disposing unwanted assets, the largest of them being the respiratory device business. However, the sources reportedly said talks are in the early stages, and that no deal is imminent.

A spokeswoman for BD, Kristen Cardillo, declined to comment about the reported plan to sell its respiratory device unit, and only issued a general statement, according to Bloomberg.

“We’re conducting a strategic review of all of our businesses but haven’t made any decisions,” she reportedly told the news outlet, which noted that a sale of the respiratory device unit is part of a wider plan to dispose of unwanted assets.

BD’s respiratory device business includes ventilators, breathing tubes, and oxygen masks. One of Bloomberg’s sources said the unit could be worth as much as $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

Bloomberg also notes that BD’s shares have risen 27 percent in the past year, driving its market value upwards to approximately $30 billion.

The company has been planning to divest assets for some time, but held off pending the closing of its acquisition of CareFusion, according to Bloomberg.

The $12.2 billion cash-and-stock deal to buy CareFusion was announced last October, and was formally completed last week. Under the deal, BD paid $58 for each share of CareFusion, and BD shareholders now holds a 92 percent ownership stake in the new company.

In the announcement of the transaction’s closing, Vincent A. Forlenza, BD’s chairman, CEO, and president, said, “This acquisition significantly accelerates BD’s strategy and builds scale and depth in medication management and patient safety solutions.”

The merger creates one of the five biggest medical device companies in the world, according to the New York Times.

CareFusion’s automated dispensing systems and infusion pumps complement BD’s portfolio of syringes and intravenous catheters.

“This is a perfect strategic fit,” Forlenza recently told the Times. “We’re coming together to improve medication management, primarily in hospitals.”