General Electric’s board of directors approved its planned spin off of its healthcare business. The new firm, called GE HealthCare, is expected to start trading on Nasdaq on Jan. 4., under the ticker “GEHC.”
The vote is one of the “final milestones” for the spinoff, GE CEO Lawrence Culp said in a news release.
GE first announced plans for the separation in late 2021, as part of a broader plan to split the conglomerate into three different companies. The healthcare segment has about 51,000 employees, and reported $17.59 billion in revenue last year, making it the world’s sixth largest medtech company by revenue. It includes GE’s imaging, ultrasound, patient care solutions and pharmaceutical diagnostics businesses.
On Wednesday, GE’s board of directors approved a distribution of 80% of GE HealthCare’s outstanding shares, which will go out after market close on Jan. 3. Shareholders will be entitled to one share of GE HealthCare stock for every three shares of GE stock that they own, the company said.
GE will keep 20% of the business’ outstanding shares.
