Fortive to buy J&J’s sterilisation unit for $2.7bn

Bloomberg

Fortive Corp. will buy Johnson & Johnson’s medical sterilisation unit for $2.7 billion, adding a range of new products to the company that was spun off from medical and industrial parts giant Danaher Corp. in 2016.
J&J’s Advanced Sterilisation Products business had sales of about $775 million last year, Fortive said in a statement announcing the transaction. For J&J, it’s yet another move to streamline its broad portfolio of businesses as part of a review that has included over-the-counter drugs, diabetes care and some medical devices.
Based in Ever-ett, Washington, Fortive makes instruments and other technologies, such as GPS tracking products, for industrial customers. Backed
by the billionaire brothers Steven and Mitchell Rales, the spinoff was meant to separate parent company’s science, tech and medical businesses while Fortive focussed on industrial businesses.
“We expect to acquire a global leader in medical sterilisation and disinfection, with a large installed base and very strong brands,” James Lico, Fortive’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. The deal is Fortive’s biggest so far as a standalone company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Two deals last year, Industrial Scientific and Laudauer, cost about $1.4 billion combined, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates at the time.