Baxter announces plan to acquire Hillrom

DEERFIELD, Ill.and CHICAGO – Baxter International Inc., a leading global medical products company, and Hillrom, a global medical technology leader, announced that an agreement under which Baxter will acquire Hillrom for $156 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately US$10.5 billion.

Hillrom brings a product portfolio and innovation pipeline that will enable Baxter to provide a broader array of medical products and services to patients and clinicians across the care continuum and around the world.

The combination is also expected to accelerate the companies’ expansion into digital and connected care solutions that are increasingly enabling patients with access to hospital-level care at home or in other care settings.

“Baxter and Hillrom share a common vision for transforming healthcare to better serve all patients and providers,” said José (Joe) E. Almeida (pictured), Baxter’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Patients increasingly want to receive their care at home or nearby, while hospitals and other care providers are increasingly using digital health technologies to expand access, improve quality and lower costs.

“Baxter and Hillrom are uniting to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving global healthcare landscape, while also creating significant value for all the stakeholders we serve. We’re very excited to welcome the Hillrom team to Baxter, and to join together to advance our mission to save and sustain lives.”

John Groetelaars, Hillrom’s president and chief executive officer, said, “We are proud of the steps we have taken to transform Hillrom into a medical technology leader with an innovative portfolio of connected care solutions. Today’s milestone announcement represents a win-win for all stakeholders. Patients and caregivers will benefit from enhanced capabilities across the continuum of care, our shareholders will receive a significant and immediate premium for their investment, and our employees will benefit from being part of a larger, stronger company with accelerated growth opportunities.

“Baxter is the ideal partner to enhance our global reach and realize the true potential of our vision to accelerate medical innovation around the world. With our shared patient-centric cultures, we look forward to seamlessly bringing our two companies together.”

According to a report by Reuters, 106-year-old Hill-Rom makes most of its revenue from its patient support systems, which include smart hospital beds that use sensors and other technology to help monitor patients.

Baxter expects the deal, worth about $12.4 billion including debt, to close early next year and to help grow earnings by more than 20 percent within the three years after.

However, analysts have presented a mixed view of the deal, with some saying investors could be concerned about Hill-Rom not having fast-growing revenue.

About Baxter
Every day, millions of patients and caregivers rely on Baxter’s leading portfolio of critical care, nutrition, renal, hospital and surgical products. For 90 years, we’ve been operating at the critical intersection where innovations that save and sustain lives meet the healthcare providers that make it happen. With products, technologies and therapies available in more than 100 countries, Baxter’s employees worldwide are now building upon the company’s rich heritage of medical breakthroughs to advance the next generation of transformative healthcare innovations. To learn more, visit www.baxter.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About Hillrom
Hillrom is a global medical technology leader whose 10,000 employees have a single purpose: enhancing outcomes for patients and their caregivers by Advancing Connected Care™. Around the world, our innovations touch over 7 million patients each day. They help enable earlier diagnosis and treatment, optimize surgical efficiency and accelerate patient recovery while simplifying clinical communication and shifting care closer to home. We make these outcomes possible through digital and connected care solutions and collaboration tools, including smart bed systems, patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies, respiratory health devices, advanced equipment for the surgical space and more, delivering actionable, real-time insights at the point of care. Learn more at hillrom.com.