J&J considers selling wound care division

One Equity Partners is on a shopping binge, it appears. The company, which recently purchased Prodigy Health Group for $110 million, has made an undisclosed offer to buyout the wound care portion of J&J's Ethicon division, which had $270 million in sales last year.

If the deal goes through, J&J will hand over the keys to its manufacturing facility in Gargrave England, along with an assortment of dressings and wound care products, including a prescription gel for diabetic leg ulcers. Ethicon's full-time 600 employees and 200 contractors would become employees of One Equity as part of the deal. 

One Equity manages investments for JP Morgan Chase. The company gave J&J until August 22 to make a decision. Overall, Ethicon generated $3.5 billion in sales in 2007. The offer is irrevocable and unconditional. If J&J accepts, it will likely close this year. 

- get the story from the New York Times.
- read about the dealsat the DealBook blog