It was announced today that Baxter has done something Stryker seemingly has been unable (or unwilling) to. They have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Apatech. Many people have responded to this news saying, “Baxter did what?”
Ultimately, the deal breaks down as $240 million now and an additional $90 million based on milestones. At least from the scuttle we have heard, Baxter has come out of nowhere and the valuation seems to be a bit rich. Unfortunately for the US employees, the British don’t believe if giving stock option heavy compensation packages. That being the case, let’s hope that Baxter intends to leave this as an independent business unit. Ideally they will have learned a lesson or two from the last couple of big acquisitions (see Kyphon/Medtronic and Abbott/Zimmer).
What do you all think about this transaction? Was this a good move by Baxter? Will they try to leverage the Apatech portfolio into other business opportunities? Are there more acquisitions to come? What happens to Osteotech after all of this?
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