After months of negotiations with EuroZone regulators, Baxter‘s (NYSE:BAX) nearly $4 billion buyout of Swedish dialysis maker Gambro AB can go forward now that Baxter agreed to sell off its renal replacement therapy division to ease anti-trust concerns.
The buyout would give Baxter a strong grasp on the dialysis devices market. Soon after the deal was announced, European regulators threw up a red flag over monopoly concerns, forcing Baxter to propose concessions.
In July, Baxter offered its closed-door plan to the European Commission aimed at easing the EU’s monopoly concerns. Now details of the concession have been made public, revealing Baxter’s promise to sell off the renal replacement therapy business.
Baxter also agreed to set up a line to produce continuous renal replacement therapy fluids in Europe, according to a European Commission press release.
EU anti-trust Investigators found that in the hemodialysis market, there will still be sufficient competition from Fresenius Medical Care and other companies.
The Gambro AB buyout was also recently cleared by Chinese regulators, having already been OK’d by regulators in the Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Turkey and the U.S.