Curium Pharma, a French maker of medical imaging supplies, and buyout firm H.I.G. Capital are among suitors shortlisted in the bidding for Cardinal Health Inc.’s nuclear medicine business, people familiar with the matter said.
Cardinal has invited the remaining bidders to submit final offers by mid-May, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. A deal could value the business at about $2 billion or more, according to the people.
Bloomberg News first reported in March that Cardinal was weighing a potential sale of the nuclear medicine business. Cardinal said in September it would review its strategy, portfolio, capital-allocation plans and operations after activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a stake in the company. The unit makes radioactive agents and drugs that doctors use to diagnose and treat diseases like cancer.
Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty the suitors will proceed with final bids, the people said. Representatives Cardinal, Curium and H.I.G. declined to comment.
Curium, which is owned by private equity firm CapVest Ltd., provides materials used to help diagnose cancer as well as heart, brain and bone diseases. The company was created following the 2017 merger of IBA Molecular with a Mallinckrodt Plc business.
Healthcare dealmaking has remained relatively robust against a broader drop off in mergers and acquisitions this year. Cardinal is among a growing list of health-care companies that are spinning off or selling non-core businesses to focus on growth opportunities.
Medical devicemaker Medtronic Plc is in the process of spinning off its patient-monitoring and respiratory-intervention businesses, while General Electric Co.’s former medical-equipment division began trading as a separate company this year.
