GEHC shares were up more than 4% at $58.56 apiece at the start of trading. By midday, shares rose 6% to $59.35 apiece. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies, was up more than 7%, and the S&P 500 was down slightly.
CEO Peter Arduini and other company leaders remotely rang the Nasdaq’s opening bell from the company’s Waukesha, Wisconsin manufacturing facility.
“Today is an incredibly exciting day for GE HealthCare as we become an independent company and start a new chapter advancing our position as a global leader in precision care,” Arduini said in a news release.
Arduini joined GE HealthCare a year ago after leaving Integra Lifesciences. He said in today’s news release that medtech is on the verge of true industry transformation. Digital innovation is reshaping patient and health provider experiences. There’s an increased need for more precise, connected, and efficient care, he said.
More than a year of work to reach the GE HealthCare spinoff
S&P Global announced the addition of GE HealthCare to the index on Dec. 28. Vornado Realty Trust moves to the S&P MidCap 400.
GE first said it planned to spin off its medtech business in November 2021. GE’s board signed off on the deal in November 2022. GE made a pro rata distribution of approximately 80.1% of the outstanding GE HealthCare shares to GE shareholders. GE retained approximately 19.9% of the outstanding shares of GE HealthCare’s common stock.
Chicago-based GE HealthCare is No. 6 in our sister site Medical Design & Outsourcing‘s Big 100 ranking of the world’s largest medical device companies. It has roughly $18 billion a year in annual revenue, more than $1 billion a year in R&D spending, and 51,000 employees,
The company has Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses under its umbrella. The four businesses have an installed base of more than 4 million pieces of equipment.
On top of M&A deals, it has been forging partnerships with other major medtech companies, including Medtronic and Elekta. It’s reportedly even considered acquiring business units that Medtronic is seeking to spin off.
