BOC "near deal" on sale of Ohmeda:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
UK company BOC has confirmed it is at an advanced stage in negotiations to sell its Ohmeda healthcare division. However, it refused to comment on whether the purchaser is US company Abbott Laboratories as press reports have suggested. The price is reportedly expected to be £750 million ($1.2 billion), somewhat less than the £1 billion price tag which had been mentioned earlier. Ohmeda businesses include anaesthetics and critical care pharmaceuticals, anaesthesia delivery and patient monitoring systems. The division's profits have been declining since 1992 when it lost the patent on the anaesthetic Forane.