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General Electric (GE) to Buy BK Medical, Boost Ultrasound Business

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General Electric Company (GE - Free Report) yesterday announced that it has entered into a deal for the acquisition of BK Medical from Altaris Capital Partners. The deal is valued at $1.45 billion in cash.

The company’s shares gained 4.5% yesterday to eventually close the trading session at $102.96.

Based in Boston and Copenhagen, BK Medical is a leader in intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation. Designed for surgeons and urologists, the company’s active imaging systems facilitate in visualizing anatomy and lesions, guiding interventions and navigating inside the body of a patient. The company, which employs more than 650 people, has a strong product line that is used across several medical specialties including general surgery, robotic-assisted surgery, neurosurgery and spine, and urology.

Inside the Headlines

General Electric expects the addition of BK Medical’s expertise in advanced ultrasound technology, coupled with its strong innovation capabilities and efficient team, to allow it to come up with comprehensive product offerings and deliver precision health to customers. The BK Medical buyout will augment General Electric’s $3 billion ultrasound business and enable it to expand into diagnostics, surgical, and therapeutic interventions.

The company expects BK Medical to deliver growth in revenues and free cash flow along with margin expansion. It also anticipates a return of high-single-digit on invested capital by year five from the acquisition. The completion of the transaction, which is subject to certain regulatory approvals, is anticipated to be completed in 2022.

BK Medical will be integrated into the General Electric’s Healthcare segment. This segment is engaged in providing technologies in patient monitoring, medical imaging, drug discovery, and others. It also offers biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies. The segment generated revenues of $4,454 million, accounting for 25.3% of total revenues in second quarter of 2021.

In May 2021, General Electric acquired France-based Zionexa, which is likely to strengthen its offerings in precision health and theranostics space. Also, in June, through its joint venture’s subsidiary, the company agreed to purchase the Transformer Solutions business of SPX Corporation (SPXC - Free Report) .

Zacks Rank, Price Performance and Estimate Trend

General Electric, with a $108.4-billion market capitalization, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The company stands to gain from solid contract wins, acquired assets, a strong liquidity position, and the restructuring of its portfolio. However, the market-related challenges in the Aviation segment remain a woe.

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In the past three months, its share price has decreased 2.2% against the industry’s increase of 5.3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings has decreased 1% to $1.99 in the past 60 days. Earnings estimates for 2022 have declined 0.7% to $4.16 over the same period.

Stocks to Consider

A couple of better-ranked stocks from the same space are Raven Industries, Inc. and Carlisle Companies Incorporated (CSL - Free Report) . While Raven currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Carlisle carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Raven pulled off an earnings surprise of 42.59%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Carlisle pulled off an earnings surprise of 39.38%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.


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