trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/ytv4mzzh2dlijui2bkpnoq2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Johnson & Johnson to sell LifeScan diabetes unit to Platinum Equity for $2.1B

Blog

A Pharmaceutical Company Capitalizes on M&A Activity with Brokerage Research

Blog

2021 Year in Review: Highlighting Key Investment Banking Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US stock performance; banks' M&A risk; COVID-19 vaccine makers' earnings

Blog

Global M&A By the Numbers: Q3 2021


Johnson & Johnson to sell LifeScan diabetes unit to Platinum Equity for $2.1B

Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest healthcare company by market value, agreed to sell its LifeScan diabetes care business to Platinum Equity LLC for $2.1 billion, the latest in a string of private equity acquisitions in the industry.

The transaction will probably close by the end of the year, subject to antitrust clearances and other closing conditions, the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company said in a June 12 statement. The sale will end more than three decades of ownership by J&J, which also sells pharmaceuticals and consumer products.

The agreement concludes a process that began in January 2017, when J&J said it was exploring options for LifeScan following a decline in sales. J&J said in March that it had received an offer from Platinum Equity.

LifeScan, which manufactures and supplies blood glucose-monitoring equipment and insulin pumps for hospital and home use, generated $1.5 billion of net revenue in 2017.

Private equity firms have been snapping up healthcare assets in 2018, a year in which deal activity is expected to exceed $200 billion, according to consulting firm EY. KKR & Co. LP said June 11 that it will acquire Envision Healthcare Corp. in a $9.9 billion deal, including debt, in one of the largest such takeovers this year.

In 2017, private equity and venture capital investment in the healthcare sector reached an all-time high of 128 deals valued at $14.2 billion, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.