In an effort to pay down debt, General Electric Co. agreed to sell its biopharma business to Danaher Corp. for total consideration of $21.4 billion, according to a statement released Monday. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp has prioritized the three “Cs” of customers, competition, and cash flow in turning around GE. He’s already cut GE's quarterly dividend and announced several smaller asset sales to ultimately bring net industrial leverage down to 2.5 times a measure of earnings in an effort to regain a single-A credit rating. “This deal takes us approximately two-thirds of the way toward our goal of reducing net industrial leverage to 2.5 Ebitda,” Culp said Monday in an interview, referring to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. “It’s not a declaration of victory. We still have plenty of work to do, and we will be doing other things over time.”