Johnson & Johnson MedTech (NYSE: JNJ) is in talks with Apollo Global Management to sell all or part of its DePuy Synthes orthopedics business, according to media reports citing anonymous sources.
A Bloomberg report said discussions involved the orthopedics unit, while The Wall Street Journal specifically mentioned the hips and knees business. The deal would be valued at around $20 billion.
Johnson & Johnson announced plans in late 2025 to split off DePuy Synthes; it’s looking to complete the separation by mid-2027. An anonymously sourced Bloomberg report in February said “big buyout firms” were ready to pounce on a roughly $20 billion deal, with several large private equity firms potentially coming to the table. J&J could not immediately be reached for comment.
With $9.3 billion in 2025 revenue, DePuy Synthes made up more than a quarter of Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s $33.8 billion haul last year. However, it’s been the slowest-growing part of the business, with sales up only 1.1% year-over-year in the most recent fiscal year.
J&J MedTech has increasingly focused on its other businesses, especially cardiovascular, which led the way with 8.3% revenue growth during the first six months of 2026. That was boosted by major acquisitions in recent years, including the $13.1 billion purchase of Shockwave Medical in 2024 for its intravascular lithotripsy technology, as well as 2022’s $16.6 billion buy of Abiomed and its catheter-delivered Impella pumps to treat heart failure.
Over the summer, J&J stepped up its AFib ablation game with FDA approval of its dual-energy ThermoCool SmartTouch SF platform, which lets doctors switch between pulsed-field and radiofrequency ablation.
An Apollo deal for DePuy Synthes would be another sign of private equity’s move into medtech
Long active in the medical device contract manufacturing space, private equity firms have become increasingly interested in medtech OEM businesses, too. If it becomes a reality, an Apollo deal for all or part of DePuy Synthes would add to that trend.
Over the summer, GTCR announced a deal for its Corza Medical business to sell its Biosurgery unit, while Resmed agreed to sell its MatrixCare software business to Frazier Healthcare Partners. Meanwhile, activity in the supplier space continued: Investment funds managed by KKR are in the process of acquiring Integer for $5.7 billion.
Hologic was the biggest name to make a move with private equity recently, inking an $18.3 billion go-private deal earlier this year.
