Johnson & Johnson to Seek Buyer for Cordis Medical-Device Unit

Division Could Fetch as Much as $2 Billion in a Sale

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), the world’s biggest maker of health-care products, is exploring a sale of its Cordis unit, which pioneered the market for drug-coated heart stents, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The division, which sells products including catheters and stents, may fetch as much as $2 billion, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The process is in the early stages, the person said.

The medical-devices business, which includes Cordis, is J&J’s second-biggest behind pharmaceuticals and showed the weakest growth in the second quarter. Revenue at the unit rose less than 1 percent to $7.24 billion, according to a statement July 15, as total sales climbed 9 percent to $19.5 billion. About three years ago, after losing ground to rivals, Cordis said it would abandon the market for drug-coated heart stents and focus on other products.

A spokeswoman for J&J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, declined to comment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-28/johnson-johnson-said-exploring-sale-of-cordis-devices-business.html

 

RIP Cordis. You were a shining star for a brief, glorious moment and then you became a dumpster fire of a company. I will always remember the good times.

 

My goodness, I remember when J&J bought Cordis back in the late '90s. Through sheer hubris, senior management quickly alienated Cordis customers -- major GPOs couldn't wait to cut the cord. It's been downhill since.

 

Case study in how to run a company into the ground.

 

This company can not get out of its own way. They have layers upon layers of upper management figure heads and far too many 20+ year employees that refuse to believe that the game has changed.

 

Agree!!

 

So typical of JnJ, put layers of dysfunctional management to keep the buddies in any managerial post!