CHICAGO—Baxter International Inc. plans to split into two companies: one for developing and marketing biopharmaceuticals, and one for medical products.
Current Baxter CEO Robert L. Parkinson Jr. will be chairman and CEO of the medical products company, which the company said will keep the Baxter International name.
Ludwig N. Hantson, who is president of the BioScience unit, will be CEO of the biopharmaceuticals company, which will be named later.
Baxter stock was up more than 11 percent in premarket trading today. It is a top producer of dialysis equipment and IV bags.
Both companies will be based in Northern Illinois. Baxter is based in Deerfield.
The biopharmaceuticals business had about $6 billion in revenue last year, while the medical products business had more than $9 billion in 2013 sales, Baxter said.
The split will be a tax-free distribution to Baxter shareholders of new publicly traded stock in the biopharmaceuticals company.
The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-year 2015.