06.11.15
Panasonic Healthcare Holdings is buying the diabetes care business of Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG for 1.02 billion euros, about $1.15 billion.
Bayer announced in December last year that it was planning to shop for a buyer for its diabetes business.
The Diabetes Care business of Bayer HealthCare makes blood glucose monitoring systems, lancing devices and diabetes management software. The sale will include the leading Contour portfolio of blood glucose monitoring meters and strips, as well as other products such as Breeze 2, Elite and Microlet lancing devices.
Bayer Diabetes Care, has marketed and sold products manufactured by Panasonic Healthcare for decades and is the exclusive sales and distribution partner for Panasonic’s Contour Next line of products. Tokyo, Japan-based Panasonic Healthcare was spun off from the Panasonic Corporation in 2014 and is owned 80 percent by the New York, N.Y.-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and 20 percent owned by Panasonic.
“Since first taking steps to becoming an independent health care company from Panasonic Corporation through KKR’s investment, it has been our key management objective to form strong partnerships with strategically pivotal companies,” Kenji Yamane, the Panasonic Healthcare president, said in a news release. “For more than 20 years, BDC (Bayer Diabetes Care) has been our flagship partnership with whom we share complementary goals.”
“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 and CEO of Bayer HealthCare.
The Bayer unit provides blood-glucose monitoring systems and is present in more than 125 countries. It posted sales of approximately $1.1 billion in 2014.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016 and is subject to regulatory approval.
Bayer announced in December last year that it was planning to shop for a buyer for its diabetes business.
The Diabetes Care business of Bayer HealthCare makes blood glucose monitoring systems, lancing devices and diabetes management software. The sale will include the leading Contour portfolio of blood glucose monitoring meters and strips, as well as other products such as Breeze 2, Elite and Microlet lancing devices.
Bayer Diabetes Care, has marketed and sold products manufactured by Panasonic Healthcare for decades and is the exclusive sales and distribution partner for Panasonic’s Contour Next line of products. Tokyo, Japan-based Panasonic Healthcare was spun off from the Panasonic Corporation in 2014 and is owned 80 percent by the New York, N.Y.-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and 20 percent owned by Panasonic.
“Since first taking steps to becoming an independent health care company from Panasonic Corporation through KKR’s investment, it has been our key management objective to form strong partnerships with strategically pivotal companies,” Kenji Yamane, the Panasonic Healthcare president, said in a news release. “For more than 20 years, BDC (Bayer Diabetes Care) has been our flagship partnership with whom we share complementary goals.”
“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 and CEO of Bayer HealthCare.
The Bayer unit provides blood-glucose monitoring systems and is present in more than 125 countries. It posted sales of approximately $1.1 billion in 2014.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016 and is subject to regulatory approval.