GE's move to sell its BioPharma business to Danaher does not include the company's contrast media division, Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, which will remain a part of GE Healthcare and will be included in that unit's spin-off later this year.
GE announced on February 25 that it will sell its BioPharma business to Danaher for $21.4 billion. The deal is part of the industrial conglomerate's ongoing effort to unwind noncore business and reduce debt.
The BioPharma business that GE is divesting, which is part of the GE Life Sciences division, in 2018 generated revenues of approximately $3 billion. The division sells instruments, consumables, and software for research, discovery, process development, and manufacturing for biopharmaceutical drugs. Its products include process chromatography hardware and consumables, cell culture media, single-use technologies, development instrumentation and consumables, and service.
In its announcement of the Danaher deal, GE specifically noted that the sale does not include its Pharmaceutical Diagnostics segment, which is currently part of GE Life Sciences, and this business will remain within GE Healthcare. Pharmaceutical Diagnostics supplies contrast media and molecular imaging consumables for radiology customers around the world, and it is "highly complementary to GE Healthcare's medical imaging business," GE noted.
GE plans to spin off GE Healthcare into a standalone company by selling up to 49% of the company through an initial public offering (IPO). GE intends to retain a controlling interest in the independent company.
