Baxter International to buy Swedish dialysis product company Gambro for $4 bn

US drug and medical-products maker Baxter International Inc today said that it will acquire privately-held Swedish dialysis product company Gambro AB for about $4 billion (26.5 billion SEK ) in cash in order to expand its renal therapies portfolio.

Founded in 1964, and with annual sales of around $1.6 billion, Gambro was acquired by two Nordic private equity firms EQT and Investor AB in 2006 for $4.7 billion, who later sold its CaridianBCT unit to Japan's Terumo Corp for $2.6 billion and another unit that operated dialysis clinics.

Stockholm-based Gambro is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of products and therapies for kidney and liver dialysis, myeloma kidney therapy, and other extracorporeal therapies for chronic and acute patients.

Its portfolio in the traditional chronic care segment consists of HD devices including advanced monitors, dialysers, bloodlines, cyclers and dialysis solutions. Gambro's in-center HD devices include the Artis system and the AK 96 system. In the acute care segment, which includes CRRT and treatment for fluid overload, among others, Gambro offers the Prismaflex system used for the treatment of critically ill patients with acute kidney problem.

It has 13 production facilities in nine countries and sales in more than 100 countries. Around 350,000 chronic renal disease patients are treated with Gambro products every year, or approximately one quarter of all dialysis patients worldwide.

Baxter said that the acquisition will provide it a number of long-term growth opportunities around the world. With Gambro's broad and complementary dialysis product portfolio, Baxter can accelerate product sales in established markets such as Europe, where Gambro has an extensive footprint.