Ireland-based healthcare product maker Covidien plc (COV) has reportedly completed the divestiture of its Specialty Chemicals business, which manufactures and sells high-purity chemicals and related products for scientific research, electronics and environmental testing.
 
Covidien announced an agreement in May 2010 to jettison the Specialty Chemicals business to a unit of New Mountain Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, for $280 million in cash. The sale is consistent with the company’s restructuring initiatives.
 
Separately, Covidien also wrapped up the previously announced sale of its sleep therapy product line (includes continuous positive airway pressure and bi-level products) to PH Invest, a Luxembourg-based privately-held company, for an undisclosed price. The transaction includes products sold under the GoodKnight and Sandman monikers.
 
The divestiture of Specialty Chemicals and sleep therapy product line will help Covidien to rationalize its product portfolio and reallocate resources to faster-growing, higher-margin businesses. The asset sales are not expected to materially impact operating income and earnings for fiscal 2010 and 2011.
 
Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that develops and markets medical solutions for better patient outcomes. The company’s core medical devices business faces stiff competition from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Becton Dickinson (BDX) and C.R. Bard (BCR).
 
Covidien boasts a well diversified product and technology portfolio. The company remains committed to rolling out new products and technologies, focusing on faster-growing products and markets, and boosting market share in core segments through investments in sales and marketing infrastructure.
 
The acquisition of Endovascular devices maker ev3 Inc in July 2010 has pushed Covidien’s leadership ahead in the endovascular devices market giving it a strong foothold in both the peripheral vascular and neurovascular sub-segments.
 
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