Feb 16 (Reuters) - Life sciences firm Danaher is closing in on a nearly $10 billion deal to acquire pulse oximeter maker Masimo, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources.
Danaher and Masimo did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Masimo, which has been in a long legal battle with iPhone maker Apple over patents, has a market capitalization of about $7 billion, while Danaher is valued at over $150 billion, according to Reuters calculations.
A federal jury in California
in November ruled that Apple owed Masimo $634 million for infringing a patent covering blood-oxygen reading technology.
A deal with Masimo would be Danaher's first major acquisition since its $5.7 billion purchase of protein consumables manufacturer Abcam in 2023.
Acquiring Masimo would allow Danaher, which provides tools and technologies that help pharmaceutical companies develop and make drugs, to expand into patient-monitoring products such as oximeters.
Masimo's shares have fallen more than 57% since their peak in November 2021.
Masimo made a $1-billion acquisition of audio products maker Sound United in early 2022, leading to a bitter proxy battle with activist hedge fund Politan Capital Management, and ended with the ouster of founder Joe Kiani as CEO in 2024. Sound United was sold to Samsung's Harman last year for $350 million.
Danaher's deal for Masimo could be unveiled as early as Tuesday, the FT report added.
(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru ; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Rashmi Aich)
