WSJ Article - courtesy MSN.COMCarlyle in Advanced Talks to Acquire Baxter’s Vantive Private-equity firm Carlyle Group is in exclusive talks to acquire medical device maker Baxter’s kidney care spinoff Vantive for more $4 billion, including debt.
The Details
The two parties entered exclusive negotiations in late June, according to people familiar with the situation, and a deal could be announced in the coming weeks. It is still possible talks could fall apart or another suitor could prevail. The separation of Vantive from Baxter was expected to take place in the second half of this year.
Baxter’s kidney care company had about $4.5 billion in revenue last year and more than 22,000 employees.
The Context
Last year, Baxter announced plans to create a new kidney care company comprising its acute therapies and renal care business. It planned to separate the business during the second half of this year, according to a news release at the time. Baxter said the separation was likely to occur through a sale to a private-equity firm or a spinoff into its own public company.
The Rationale
The deal would be Carlyle’s latest at a time when private-equity dealmaking is slowly coming back to life. Private equity leveraged buyouts are up some 45% from a year earlier according to data provider Dealogic, with $109.2 billion struck through early July.
It also would happen at a time when the firm is in the midst of change. Most recently Carlyle’s former head of healthcare, Steve Wise, was appointed to become a co-head of Americas Corporate Private Equity.