Lab equipment provider Danaher ($DHR), which earlier this year said it would split into two publicly traded companies, has unveiled the moniker by which its industrial business operations will be known--Fortive.
The newly formed entity will be listed on the NYSE, and the spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2016, the company said in a release. The name of the new company, which will absorb Danaher's testing and measuring equipment unit, Matco tools for mechanics and the Gilbarco Veeder-Root fuel pumps, was derived from the Latin root "fort," which means strong.
When Danaher picked up Pall for about $13.8 billion in May, the company said it would split into two entities as part of a tax-free spinoff for shareholders. The Danaher focus will be on science, health care and technology.
"The Fortive Business System will be the core of our operating model, the cornerstone of our culture and our competitive advantage," James Lico, Danaher's executive vice president, said in a statement. Lico is slated to become Fortive's president and CEO.
In an SEC filing, Fortive outlined the spinoff and its pro forma financial results for the 9 months ended Oct. 2. The company said net income for that period was $627.7 million versus $645.5 million for the same period a year ago, while sales were $4.62 billion on a pro forma basis against $4.65 billion.
Following the fierce bidding war for Pall, company officials said the acquisition would provide the momentum for it to put the spinoff plan into play. The strategy followed a string of 9 announced M&A deals by Danaher since 2014. During that period, Danaher lost a bid for Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) Ortho Clinical Diagnostics business to the Carlyle Group.
Another aggressive lab equipment acquirer, Thermo Fisher Scientific ($TMO), went up against Danaher for Pall but fell short in the bidding war.
- check out the Danaher release
- read the Fortive SEC filing