 |
| Namal Nawana, Alere COO and interim president and CEO |
Alere ($ALR) management is in advanced talks to sell its health management business, according to Reuters. In August, the diagnostics player had said it would do so before year-end as part of an ongoing strategic review aimed at returning the company to revenue and earnings growth.
The board and current management at Alere are in the midst of trying to fend off a take-private offer being assembled by the former executives who departed at the end of June, including Ron Zwanziger, the former president and CEO.
A sale of the health management business is part of the plan for Alere laid out by interim president and CEO, as well as COO, Namal Nawana during the company's most recent earnings call. A success on this front could enable the existing management and board to better make the case that they are effectively managing the company.
The health management divestiture is in "late stages," according to Reuters. The unit is part of the Health Information Solutions business and is mostly made up of Matria Healthcare, which Alere acquired in 2008 for $900 million. The health management unit has a focus on women's and children's health with about $200 million in first half revenue.
Zwanziger is in the process of raising capital to take Alere private in a $46-per-share offer that values the company at $3.2 billion, according to an SEC filing last month. The company responded to this by underscoring its commitment to the ongoing strategic review and noting that the Zwanziger potential take-out offer does not specify any participating investors.
The company has said it wants to focus on cardiometabolic disease, infectious disease and toxicology. And that, in addition to the health management divestiture, it could also rid itself of "other smaller, noncore assets in various fields of oncology, women's health, and veterinary products," Nawana said on the recent quarterly earnings call.
At that time, he also said the company would scale back its investment in Connected Health and not revisit a previously scrapped spin-out of the BBI business.
Reuters suggests that the health management divestiture could make Alere an attractive takeout target for large companies such as Danaher ($DHR) and Abbott Laboratories ($ABT).
- here is the Reuters story