By Gnaneshwar Rajan and Christy Santhosh
Feb 17 (Reuters) – Danaher will acquire Masimo in a $9.9 billion deal, as it looks to expand its diagnostics portfolio with the California-based medtech company’s devices to monitor blood oxygen levels.
The companies said on Tuesday that Danaher will pay $180 per share to buy Masimo. The offer represents 38.3% premium to Masimo’s last close.
The deal marks a rare move beyond life sciences company Danaher’s core drug-development tools business, to gain a foothold in the market for blood oxygen monitoring products, a segment dominated by Medtronic and Masimo.
Masimo shares jumped 34% to $174.48, while Danaher shares fell 3.5%, and were on track to wipe off more than $5 billion from the company’s $150 billion market capitalization.
J.P.Morgan analysts said a medtech target is surprising and expects the deal to weigh on Danaher’s shares as investors could read it as a sign that potential targets in the company’s core markets are less favorable in the current environment.
Life sciences firms, which supply drug development tools, have been grappling with tariff uncertainty and softer academic and government research funding, and therefore looking to diversify and boost non-core segments.
The deal with Masimo broadens Danaher’s diagnostic segment, complementing its invasive Radiometer blood analyzer devices with Masimo’s non-invasive pulse oximeters, brain function and respiration monitoring devices, among other products.
Bernstein analyst Christian Moore expects the deal to prove to be a good one for Danaher over time.
Masimo recently transformed itself into a “pure-play” med-tech firm after selling its Sound United unit, which held audio brands Denon and Marantz, to Samsung’s Harman last year for $350 million.
Danaher expects a 15 to 20 cents boost to its adjusted diluted net earnings per common share in the first full year and about 70 cents in the fifth full year following the completion of the acquisition.
The deal is expected to close by the second half of 2026.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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