DaVita buying Gambro kidney dialysis business for $3 billion

DaVita moves to become the larges dialysis provider with the $3 billion acquisition of Gambro. Impact graphs from Reuters:

 

DaVita moves to become the larges dialysis provider with the $3 billion acquisition of Gambro. Impact graphs from Reuters:

DaVita is now the second-largest U.S. dialysis services provider by number of patients, behind Fresenius Medical Care AG of Germany.

One risk is that U.S. antitrust regulators may closely scrutinize the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the expected acquisition. Some DaVita divestitures are already anticipated, the newspaper said.

European analysts speculated the sale by Gambro was driven by its desire to focus on its most profitable business areas and to give it more control over its pricing.

Gambro Healthcare gets about 90 percent of its revenues in the United States, where Medicare accounts for around 70 percent of its billing, giving the federally funded health insurance program the power to set treatment prices.

``Healthcare is their most complicated business, not only because of legal issues, but also due to the heavy influence of external factors, such as Medicare,’’ said one analyst.

The dialysis services unit has a margin of 18 percent on core earnings, the lowest of the group’s three divisions. Gambro’s renal care unit makes dialysis equipment and its BCT unit makes blood handling equipment.

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