Baxter Has Made Takeover Approach to Omnicell

(Bloomberg) -- Health-care supply company Baxter International Inc. has expressed interest in buying Omnicell Inc., a provider of medication-management services, according to people familiar with the matter.

Baxter made an approach to Omnicell, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. No final decision has been made and the approach may not lead to a deal, the people said.

“As a matter of policy, Omnicell does not comment on rumors or speculation,” a representative for Omnicell said in a statement.

A representative for Baxter declined to comment.

Omnicell rose 19% in late trading Tuesday.

The stock rose 2.1% to close at $109.88 in New York, giving the Mountain View, California-based company a market value of about $4.7 billion.

Baxter, with a market value of about $39.8 billion, rose 0.2% to $77.93.

Omnicell provides a range of services that help pharmacies, hospitals and other health-care companies handle how they dole out medication, from robots that dispense drugs to software that helps pharmacists engage with patients, according to its website.

Baxter, based in Deerfield, Illinois, provides dozens of health-care products for use in hospitals, and in renal, surgical and critical care, including artificial kidneys and insulin.

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