Life sciences conglomerate Danaher has announced plans to acquire dental firm Nobel Biocare Holding for $2.1 billion in cash. The deal, assuming it passes regulator muster, could close by the end of this year or early 2015.
The move marks the first acquisition for Danaher CEO Thomas Joyce, who assumed his role on last week, on September 9.
The acquisition of Nobel Biocare, the second biggest dental implant firm globally, would also likely make Danaher the market leader in dental implants. That title is currently held by Straumann Holding, which is also based in Switzerland. With the acquisition, Danaher expects its dental business to bring in close to $3 billion in annual sales.
Danaher plans on maintaining Nobel Biocare’s branding, integrating the company’s products into its dental platform. In addition, Nobel Biocare would continue to be managed as an independent company.
"Bringing Nobel Biocare's deep expertise in implant dentistry, digital prosthetics and software together with our extensive knowledge in 3D imaging, intraoral scanning and digital restorative solutions will further enable us to optimize clinical workflows to the benefit of patients and dental practitioners," explained Danaher dental unit senior vice president Henk van Duijnhoven in a press release.
Sells for dental implants have been ticking upwards in recent years, after stagnating following the Great Recession that began in 2008. Implants were hit hard by the downturn as they are generally not covered by insurance.
Dannaher now employs about 66,000 people while Nobel has 2500 workers. Last year, Danaher had revenues of $19.1 billion, while Biocare had 2013 annual revenues of roughly $750 million.
The move follows an uptick of mergers and acquisitions among life science firms—most notably Medtronic’s $43 billion deal to buy Covidien.
