Baxter expands dialysis line with $4B purchase of Gambro

Baxter International has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gambro, a privately held dialysis product company based in Lund, Sweden, for total consideration of 26.5 billion SEK, or approximately $4 billion U.S. at current exchange rates.

Gambro is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of dialysis products and therapies for patients with acute or chronic kidney disease. Baxter said the acquisition expands its dialysis product portfolio and complements its global home dialysis offerings. Specifically, Gambro develops dialysis products and technologies used in hemodialysis, including monitors, dialyzers, bloodlines, cyclers and dialysis technologies and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

Gambro's in-center hemodialysis devices include the Artis system and the AK 96TM system. In the acute care segment, which includes CRRT and treatment for fluid overload, Gambro offers the Prismaflex system used for the treatment of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury.

With this purchase, Baxter said it hopes to expand product sales in established markets such as Europe, as well as in high-growth regions of Latin America and Asia-Pacific, where Baxter has steadily grown its peritoneal dialysis business.

Excluding special items, the Deerfield, Ill.-based company expects this transaction to be dilutive to adjusted earnings in 2013 and neutral to modestly accretive to adjusted earnings per diluted share in 2014.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of cash generated from overseas operations and debt, according to the companies. Baxter said it expects to maintain its current dividend payout ratio of approximately 40 percent. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the first half of 2013.