Fresenius Medical Care closes $2 billion NxStage acquisition

Fresenius Medical Care announced Tuesday it completed the $2 billion acquisition of home dialysis devicemaker NxStage Medical, about a year and a half after the companies first announced the deal.

The Boston-based dialysis provider says the purchase will accelerate its move toward home treatments by enabling the combined company to leverage its manufacturing, supply chain and marketing competencies in a less labor- and capital-intensive care setting.

"By combining NxStage's capabilities with our broad product and service offering, we can help patients to live even more independently," Bill Valle, CEO of Fresenius Medical Care North America, said in a statement. "In addition to broadening our product portfolio, this acquisition positions Fresenius Medical Care to benefit from the growing trend toward home-based therapies."

Dr. Frank Maddux, the company's chief medical officer, told Modern Healthcare last month that about 12% of the company's patients are currently treated at home and the goal is to increase that to 25% by 2022.

NxStage, also headquartered in Boston, makes medical devices for home dialysis and critical care. It was founded in 1998 and has about 3,800 employees worldwide, according to Fresenius' release. Fresenius Medical Care's parent company, Fresenius, is based in Germany and is the world's largest provider of dialysis products and services, the company said.

Fresenius said it lowered its projected integration costs to between 50 million euros ($57 million) to 75 million euros ($85 million) over the next three years following the close because some of the costs are being considered NxStage's pre-merger expenses.

The deal received approval from the relevant antitrust authorities, according to Fresenius.

Fresenius Medical Care generated nearly 5.2 billion euroes ($5.9 billion) in gross profit last year, according to its year-end report, down from 6 billion euros in 2017, or about $6.9 billion. The company generated 16.5 billion euroes in revenue ($18.9 billion) in 2018, compared with 17.8 billion euros in 2017 ($20.3 billion).