GE Healthcare to Acquire BK Medical for $1.45 Billion to Expand Ultrasound Business from Diagnosis into Surgical Therapy

September 23, 2021—GE Healthcare announced that it would acquire BK Medical, a leading provider of advanced surgical visualization technology, from Altaris Capital Partners for $1.45 billion. As an innovator in the field of intraoperative imaging and surgical guidance, BK Medical is headquartered in Boston and Copenhagen, employs more than 650 people, and has achieved double-digit revenue growth. The company has long focused on the research and development of visualization guidance technologies for minimally invasive and robotic surgeries, particularly enabling deep-tissue visualization in neurosurgery, abdominal surgery, and ultrasound-guided urological procedures.

This complementary acquisition will enable GE HealthCare’s $3 billion annual revenue ultrasound business to expand from diagnostics into therapeutic procedures such as surgery, and help GE HealthCare introduce more innovative products in the field of advanced surgical visualization, thereby accelerating the development of precision medicine.

Kieran Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare, stated, “Ultrasound has become an integral part of numerous clinical diagnostic and treatment pathways. The addition of BK Medical is highly complementary and strategically significant for our growing ultrasound business. This acquisition will help GE Healthcare continue to expand from diagnostics into more therapeutic procedures, such as surgical interventions, enabling clinicians to make rapid and precise decisions, thereby delivering more efficient and personalized care to patients with deeper insights. Undoubtedly, this marks another important milestone in GE Healthcare’s journey toward precision medicine.”

Brooks West, President and Chief Executive Officer of BK Medical, stated, “We are proud of the life-changing technologies that BK Medical brings, and we look forward to joining the GE HealthCare family. Combining our expertise in intraoperative imaging and surgical guidance with GE HealthCare’s robust resources and global reach will accelerate our mission to transform the standard of care in surgical procedures. Furthermore, our vision of empowering surgeons to make critical decisions using active imaging aligns closely with GE HealthCare’s mission to help clinicians make more efficient and precise decisions, thereby improving patient outcomes.”

Roland Rott, President and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Ultrasound business, stated, “GE already boasts a robust portfolio of pre- and post-operative ultrasound products. With the introduction of rapidly growing real-time intraoperative visualization ultrasound technologies and products, we will further enrich our end-to-end product lineup spanning from diagnosis to treatment. GE Healthcare and BK Medical have always shared a passion for clinical innovation, and we welcome BK Medical to join our team.”

This acquisition is expected to strengthen GE’s future advantages in ultrasound technology and commercial scale, thereby creating greater value through the synergies formed between GE HealthCare and BK Medical: 1. BK Medical’s Active Imaging platform will enable access to more new customers and new markets; 2. GE HealthCare’s diagnostic imaging technologies complement BK Medical’s surgical visualization capabilities and its efficient clinical decision-making technologies during treatment procedures, helping clinicians make better and more effective treatment decisions throughout the full cycle of care. Furthermore, following the completion of this acquisition, BK Medical’s revenue, profit, and cash flow are projected to grow rapidly, with the return on investment expected to reach high single digits by the fifth year.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in 2022, subject to review by the relevant regulatory authorities.

GE Healthcare is the healthcare business unit of GE Group, with global annual revenue reaching $18 billion in 2020 (NYSE: GE). As a global leader in innovating medical technologies and digital solutions, GE Healthcare leverages its Edison digital health intelligence platform to empower clinicians to make faster and more accurate diagnostic and treatment decisions by providing intelligent devices, data analytics, applications, and services. With a rich history spanning over 100 years and approximately 47,000 employees worldwide, GE Healthcare enjoys a prestigious reputation in the industry. The company is committed to building an ecosystem for precision medicine and digital healthcare, helping patients, healthcare providers, and researchers around the world improve efficiency and outcomes. For the latest information on GE Healthcare, please follow GE Healthcare China on WeChat and Weibo, or visit the official website at http://www3.gehealthcare.cn/.

BK Medical is a global company in the field of intraoperative imaging and surgical guidance, headquartered in Boston and Copenhagen, with more than 650 employees. By leveraging advanced ultrasound technology and sophisticated software algorithms for active imaging platforms, BK Medical enables surgeons to make real-time, data-driven decisions during procedures, thereby achieving better clinical outcomes and reducing costs for patients, physicians, and healthcare systems. With 40 years of accumulated expertise in advanced ultrasound technology, the company has installed more than 14,000 ultrasound platforms worldwide. BK Medical’s technology is highly proprietary and protected by more than 136 patent families. For more information, please visit www.bkmedical.com.