Becton Dickinson (“BD”) recently announced an agreement to acquire C.R. Bard for $24 billion in cash and stock. The transaction remains subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, but is expected to close in the fall of 2017.

Both BD and Bard are century-old (BD was founded in 1897 and Bard was founded in 1907) medical device companies based in northern New Jersey.  Bard offers devices for vascular medicine, urology, oncology and surgery, whereas BD provides syringes and infusion products, including those for diabetes management, and products for collecting and transporting diagnostic specimens.  According to BD, Bard will expand BD’s focus on the treatment of disease states beyond diabetes to include peripheral vascular disease, urology, hernia and cancer.

The agreement to acquire Bard follows BD’s 2015 acquisition of San Diego-based CareFusion Corp. for $12 billion.  The acquisition of CareFusion expanded BD’s product offerings to include devices used for administering and managing medication.  Regarding its acquisition of Bard, Vincent Forlenza, Chairman and chief executive officer of BD states:

Combining with Bard will accelerate our ability to offer more comprehensive, clinically relevant solutions to customers and patients around the globe…We expect the transaction to contribute meaningfully to BD’s plans for revenue growth and margin expansion, and generate outstanding value both near- and long-term for shareholders.

Additionally, BD says the acquisition of Bard which registered approximately 500 products internationally in 2016 will accelerate the company’s growth in emerging markets outside of the U.S., including $1 billion in annual revenue in China.  Tim Ring, Bard’s chairman and chief executive officer explains that: “our fast-growing portfolio in emerging markets can significantly benefit from their well-established international commercial infrastructure.”