Dentsply Sirona Weighs $1 Billion Split of Bladder, Bowel Unit Wellspect

Dentsply Sirona Inc., the world’s biggest maker of dental products and technologies, is exploring options including a carve-out of bladder and bowel-control product unit Wellspect HealthCare, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Bloomberg) — Dentsply Sirona Inc., the world’s biggest maker of dental products and technologies, is exploring options including a carve-out of bladder and bowel-control product unit Wellspect HealthCare, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The company, which is working with advisers, could seek a value of about $1 billion in a separation of the business, the people said, asking to not be identified because the discussions are private.

Dentsply Sirona has been seeking to “reestablish credibility” with investors after an internal investigation of its financial reporting led to the ousters of its chief executive and chief financial officers. The company in November restated certain financials after finding that some distributors were offered incentives to buy its products to help the company meet internal sales goals, according to a securities filing.

In August, it named Simon Campion as chief executive officer and said it would begin a “full review” of the company’s business and operations. Deliberations around Wellspect are in the early stages and Dentsply Sirona may opt to keep the business, the people said.

A representative for Dentsply Sirona said the company is moving towards completion of its organizational review and always looking for ways to best position its brands for sustainable growth and profitability.

While Dentsply Sirona traffics primarily in dental devices, it inherited Wellspect, which sells urinary and rectal catheters, through its acquisition of Astra Tech’s dental and health-care businesses in 2011. Dentsply Sirona considered selling Wellspect in 2017, Bloomberg News reported at the time. 

Dentsply Sirona closed down 4.1% in New York trading Tuesday, giving the company a market value of about $7.7 billion. The stock has fallen almost a third in the past year. 

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Close Bitnami banner
Bitnami