A Breakup Lesson for Sprawling Conglomerates
Going part-way may only mean having to come back later to finish the job.
Slicing up the corporate pie.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North AmericaDanaher Corp.’s breakup-in-stages offers lessons for other sprawling industrial companies.
The $73 billion maker of life-science equipment and water-purification technology on Thursday announced it would spin off its dental unit. It’s a move that I’ve long argued makes sense. This is Danaher’s second spinoff in about as many years, having separated out its Fortive Corp. industrial tools business in 2016. Fortive has essentially become a Danaher 2.0, and its success is proof that applying the company’s vaunted operating system and acquisition-driven strategy on a more focused scale pays off. But at Danaher 1.0, the transformation felt incomplete.