BD is stretching its reach in patient monitoring with the $4.2 billion purchase of Edwards Lifesciences’ connected care portfolio—including indwelling and noninvasive sensors for operating rooms and ICUs, as well as the digital infrastructure needed to analyze that data.
The deal claims the entirety of Edwards’ Critical Care group, including its about 4,500 employees, which was previously being set up for a spinoff into an independent company.
The business brought in over $900 million in revenue during 2023, with devices placed in more than 10,000 hospitals. The Irvine, California-based division will operate as a separate unit under BD’s Medical segment.
“We believe the combination unlocks multiple new avenues for growth and value creation through BD’s broad global footprint, increased penetration across new and existing hospital customers, new innovation opportunities across data sets and platforms, and application of the BD Excellence operating system,” BD CEO Tom Polen said in a statement.
Polen added that he expects the acquisition to immediately start adding to the company’s bottom line after it closes before the end of this year. The companies also pegged the division’s growth between 6% and 7% per year, with about 80% of revenue coming from recurring equipment sales.
“Edwards’ underlying rationale for separating Critical Care remains the same: we are laser-focused on pursuing a strategy centered on structural heart disease,” said CEO Bernard Zovighian.
“We believe this transaction will strengthen Edwards, Critical Care and BD, paving the way for both companies to deliver even greater value to patients,” Zovighian said, with Edwards specifically noting that it will use the proceeds “to fund strategic growth investments” in cardiac valve technologies and other heart failure interventions.
At BD, Critical Care will continue to be led by Katie Szyman, who has served as the group’s corporate vice president since 2015 and was previously slated to become its CEO if the company had gone solo.
BD said it planned to fund the deal with about $1 billion in cash and the remainder by taking on new debt.