HEALTH CARE SECTOR
Becton adds Bard to string of deals
Becton shares dropped 3.9% to $178 before the US markets opened on Monday
For more than a century, medical devices company Becton, Dickinson & Company got by without any major acquisitions. That has changed drastically under CEO Vincent Forlenza, who is turning out to be a serial dealmaker. The company says it has forged its largest deal by agreeing to buy CR Bard for $24bn to combine two of the world’s biggest healthcare suppliers. That marks the 12th acquisition since Forlenza took the helm of the US-based company more than five years ago, and eclipses the $12bn acquisition of CareFusion he oversaw in March 2015. Forlenza’s shopping spree comes out of necessity. Medical suppliers have been under rising pressure to bring down prices, triggering consolidation among makers of medical devices. Investors seem to approve of the strategy: Becton’s stock has more than doubled since Forlenza became CEO in 2011 and surpassed the 132% returns generated by the S&P 500 Health-care Equipment Index. "As a provider to hospitals, you need to be big and have really diver...
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