Here’s Why GE HealthCare Has M&A-Making Fever in 2023

GE HealthCare has been independent for less than two months and is already on its second deal in 2023.  Clearly, the poster child for 2022’s “The Spin is in” trend isn’t wasting anytime in indulging in M&A.

On Thursday, GE HealthCare announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Caption Health, a private company that specializes in using artificial intelligence to assist in conducting ultrasound scans.

GE HealthCare did not disclose financial terms of the deal but said it would be funded by cash-on-hand. This deal would support Chicago-based GE HealthCare’s $3 billion ultrasound business.

In a release, GE HealthCare remarked that Caption AI’s applications can help detect signs of diseases like heart failure in at-risk patients across doctors’ offices, the home, and alternate sites of care, potentially preventing hospitalizations and supporting improved clinical outcomes.

In prepared remarks, GE HealthCare Ultrasound President, and CEO Roland Rott said, “This tuck-in acquisition will help expand affordable access to ultrasound imaging to novice users and is aligned with a broader shift to precision care globally.”

This is the second acquisition GE HealthCare has announced this year. In January, the company said it was acquiring Imactis, a French developer of CT interventional guidance technology.  The announcement came about a week after GE HealthCare completed its spinoff from General Electric.

Imactis, which was founded in 2009, would provide GE Healthcare access to the CT Interventional Guidance market.

The company has developed the Imactis CT-Navigation system, which includes an integrated workstation, guidance software, and disposable procedure kit, is currently approved under the European Union’s Medical Devices Regulation, and has FDA clearance.

General Electric said in 2021 it was breaking up into three parts – which would include spinning off GE HealthCare. There was a previous attempt by General Electric to spin out GE HealthCare in 2018. However, those plans came to a halt because General Electric was selling its pharmaceutical unit to Danaher for $21 billion.