U.K.-based GE Healthcare is acquiring Totowa, N.J.-based Vital Signs, Inc. for approximately $860 million. Under the terms of agreement, shareholders of Vital Signs will receive $74.50 per share in cash.
The transaction, which is subject to Vital Signs’ shareholder and regulatory approvals, as well as other customary conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008. Shareholders holding approximately 37 percent of Vital Signs’ stock have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the proposed transaction, according to GE Healthcare.
Vital Signs will become part of GE Healthcare’s Clinical Systems business, a provider of technologies for patient monitoring, anesthesia delivery and acute respiratory care. A medical product provider, Vital Signs offers single-patient use products that it says can result in cost savings and improve patient care by reducing the potential of transmitting infections from one patient to another.
