Business
Bayer to Divest Diabetes Care Business to Panasonic Healthcare
In this photo taken July 6, 2009 worker Roland Ulbrich presents an Aspirin pill made for Italy at the pharmaceutical plant of the Bayer Bitterfeld company in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, eastern Germany. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)
(Financial Express) – Bayer AG has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its diabetes care business to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings, a company which is backed by funds sponsored by leading global investment firm KKR and the Panasonic Corporation. The total consideration for the transaction is EUR 1,022 million (JPY 138 billion).
The sale will include the leading Contour portfolio of blood glucose monitoring meters and strips, as well as other products such as Breeze2, Elite and Microlet lancing devices. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including relevant antitrust clearance, and is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2016.
“We are confident that the sale of our diabetes care business to our long-standing partner Panasonic Healthcare, with the strong backing of KKR, will support the long-term sustainability of this portfolio,” said Werner Baumann, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and CEO, Bayer HealthCare.
“For more than 20 years, our companies have shared complementary goals. We anticipate that this partnership will take our two great businesses to new heights, and we wholly welcome the BDC team as full partners to Panasonic Healthcare,” said Kenji Yamane, President of Panasonic Healthcare and Panasonic Healthcare Holdings.
