GE Buys Abbott Diagnostic Business for $8+B
Abbott today announced that it will sell its core laboratory diagnostics business included in the Abbott Diagnostics Division and Abbott Point of Care (formerly known as i-STAT) to General Electric for $8.13 billion in cash. The transaction excludes Abbott’s Molecular Diagnostics and Diabetes Care (glucose monitoring) businesses. If regulatory authorities approve it, the deal is expected to be closed in the first half of the year. In 2004 Abbott spun off its hospital products business into a separate public company named Hospira. Meanwhile Siemens Medical is digesting its acquisitions of Diagnostic Products Corporation and Bayer Healthcare’s Diagnostics Division. Earlier this month GE said it was buying aircraft control & diagnostic systems manufacturer Smiths Aerospace plc for $4.8 billion in cash.
January 18, 2007 Related topics: Mergers & Acquisitions, Diagnostic