The deal will help BK Medical’s active imaging platform in reaching out to new customers and new markets across the globe
GE Healthcare to acquire BK Medical from Altaris Capital Partners. (Credit: Bjoertvedt/Wikimedia Commons)
GE has agreed to acquire BK Medical, an intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation company, from Altaris Capital Partners for $1.45bn in an all-cash deal.
BK Medical is dual-headquartered in Boston, US and Copenhagen, Denmark.
The company’s intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation solutions are used to help clinicians during minimally invasive and robotic surgeries. The solutions also enable them to get a visualisation of deep tissue during procedures in neuro and abdominal surgery, as well as in ultrasound urology.
BK Medical’s imaging architecture and algorithms along with its sterilisable within-body transducers are designed for differentiating organ-specific tissues.
The company’s algorithms for automatic image enhancement and guided workflows enable surgeons an image that is said to answer a surgical question, with minimal distractions.
According to GE, the combination of GE Healthcare’s diagnostic imaging technology with the ability of BK Medical in enabling decision-making and surgical visualisation in intervention will help in better decision-making across the care continuum.
BK Medical president and CEO Brooks West said: “Combining our expertise in intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation with GE Healthcare’s many strengths and global presence will accelerate our mission to change the standard of care in surgical interventions.
“Our mission to help surgeons make critical decisions using active imaging aligns well with GE Healthcare’s mission to help physicians make more informed decisions and improve patient outcomes, and we are eager to begin this new chapter.”
GE said that the deal is anticipated to generate value by further strengthening BK Medical. This will be through the significant synergies created by leveraging its technology and commercial scale, said GE.
Furthermore, the deal will enable BK Medical’s active imaging platform to be used by new customers and in new markets across the globe.
GE Healthcare president and CEO Kieran Murphy said: “Ultrasound today forms an integral part of many care pathways, and BK Medical is a strategic and highly complementary addition to our growing and profitable Ultrasound business.
“This transaction helps GE Healthcare continue to expand beyond diagnostics into surgical and therapeutic interventions, simplifying decision-making for clinicians and equipping them with greater insights to deliver faster, more personalised care for their patients—representing another step toward delivering precision health.”
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close next year.