General Electric’s Subsidiary Plans BK Medical Acquisition

General Electric’s (GE) subsidiary GE Healthcare plans to acquire BK Medical, an advanced surgical visualization company. The acquisition should expand the company’s footprint into the precision health sector valued at tens of billions of dollars. The transaction is expected to close in 2022. GE shares rose 4.49% to close at $102.96 on September 23.

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The acquisition is part of the company’s push to tailor treatments by ensuring doctors are able to make good use of medical histories and genetic makeups. Additionally, it should help the General Electric unit expand beyond diagnostics and into surgical and therapeutic interventions. (See General Electric stock charts on TipRanks).

BK Healthcare boasts unique technologies that allow clinicians to see inside patients during surgeries. Therefore, clinicians and physicians can access valuable visual information that enhances decision-making and guides surgical procedures. The insights are valuable in a world of growing minimally invasive operations, the company said.

GE Healthcare Ultrasound CEO Roland Rott stated, “Adding the fast-growing and relatively new field of real-time surgical visualization to GE’s pre- and post-operative ultrasound capabilities will create an end-to-end offering through the full continuum of care — from diagnosis through therapy and beyond.”

The General Electric ultrasound business has made a series of acquisitions as it looks to transform and change the standard of care in surgical interventions. It has already snapped up Austrian ultrasound pioneer Kretztechnik and French company Zionexa, which is currently working on imaging agents that help doctors diagnose certain cancers.

Recently, UBS analyst Markus Mittermaier reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $136 price target, implying 32.19% upside potential to current levels.

Consensus among analysts is a Moderate Buy based on 8 Buys and 4 Holds. The average General Electric price target of $118.89 implies 15.56% upside potential to current levels.