BD Plans to Acquire CareFusion for $12.2 Billion USD

BD announced on Oct. 5, 2014 that it had reached an agreement to acquire CareFusion, a provider of products and services that help hospitals improve safety and quality of care for patients. The companies’ product portfolios complement each other and will offer integrated medication management solutions and smart devices, from drug preparation in the pharmacy, to dispensing on the hospital floor, administration to the patient, and subsequent monitoring, according to BD.

Under the terms of the transaction, CareFusion shareholders will receive $49 in cash and 0.0777 of a share of BD for each share of CareFusion, or a total of $58 per CareFusion share based on BD’s closing price as of Oct. 3, 2014.  The transaction is subject to regulatory and CareFusion shareholder approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2015.  Upon closing, BD shareholders will own approximately 92% of the combined company, and CareFusion shareholders will own approximately 8%.

"BD’s acquisition of CareFusion allows us to align our highly complementary technologies and products to address unmet needs in the growing $20 billion global medication management industry, which leverages BD’s world-wide infrastructure.  It accelerates BD’s transition from a product-focused company to a customer-centric provider of innovative healthcare solutions with leading scale across the medication management value chain and expanded solutions for patient safety.  With the targeted cost savings we have identified and the growth opportunities we see in bringing CareFusion products to more patients and healthcare workers around the world, we expect this transaction to create meaningful value for our shareholders, customers, employees, and other stakeholders," Vincent A. Forlenza, BD’s chairman, CEO and president, said in a press release.

Kieran T. Gallahue, CareFusion chairman and CEO, said in the press release, "As part of BD, we see new growth opportunities for our products in global markets, new value we can create for our customers, and new opportunities for our employees as part of what will become one of the largest, global leaders in med-tech. The transaction delivers attractive value for CareFusion shareholders, and represents a powerful endorsement of our strong positions in medication management, informatics across our device platforms, and leading products to help improve the effectiveness of acute-care procedures."

Source: BD