Du Pont ramps up search for buyer

Du Pont has begun the process of weeding out suitors for its medicalproducts business, according to the Wilmington, DE, company. Thefirm is sending out information on its medical products unitsto companies that it believes are qualified to buy the businesses,according to spokesperson Jayne Seebach Persico.

Industry speculation has run rampant as to the identity of abuyer for the units, which include the Du Pont Diagnostic Imagingfilm and digital imaging business. Some observers have suggestedthat a buyer has already been found, but those pundits are jumpingthe gun, Persico said.

"The field has been narrowed, but we do not have a buyerat this time," Persico said.

We don't anticipate selling or having a firm idea of who thebuyer is until the (Radiological Society of North America meeting).

Du Pont received 60 to 80 inquiries in the weeks after it announcedit was selling the medical products business to pay for the purchaseof its stock held by Seagram (SCAN 6/7/95). The company is determiningwhich of those candidates are qualified to continue in the process,which will require the signing of a confidentiality agreementbefore interested parties can receive additional information onthe medical products business.

Among the criteria Du Pont is using to size up potential buyersare the strategic business fit between Du Pont and the acquiringcompany, whether antitrust issues would interfere with an acquisition,and the company's treatment of employees and customers. Du Ponthopes to have the deal completed by early 1996, Persico said.