Baxter finally closes $4B Gambro deal, eyes dialysis dominance

Baxter CEO Robert Parkinson

Months late and with a few concessions, Baxter ($BAX) has wrapped up its acquisition of dialysis competitor Gambro, trading $3.9 billion for an expanded share of the global renal market.

Upon announcing the deal in December, Baxter expected to close the Gambro acquisition by mid-year, but regulator setbacks around the world pushed the date back, and the company had to make a few monopoly-thwarting promises to get it done. First, Baxter has to sell off its continuous renal replacement therapy segment to please the EU, and then it has until March 2016 to get out of an outsourcing deal with Japan's Nipro, a move mandated by Chinese regulators.

Now, with Gambro in the fold, Baxter expects to grow as much as 8% on the year, more than twice the rate it initially projected and good for about $15.3 billion in 2013.

The company is already well-situated in the global dialysis market, last quarter raking in $654 million from its renal devices, a 3% jump over the previous year. But the addition of Gambro and its strong foothold in Latin America and Asia will make Baxter an unquestioned leader, CEO Robert Parkinson said, capitalizing on the Swedish company's $1.6 billion in annual sales and solid position in hemodialysis.

''The combination of these two respected renal leaders--Baxter and Gambro--will enable Baxter to better serve healthcare providers and patients through a collective offering of innovative renal products and therapies,'' Parkinson said in a statement. ''Together, we will advance the state of dialysis care for patients with kidney disease worldwide.''

- read Baxter's statement