Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it will sell its ortho clinical diagnostics unit to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $4.15 billion, a year after announcing it was considering spinning off or selling the slow-growing business.
The companies said in separate statements that, if approved, the deal should close in the middle of 2014.
(Read more: 'Things are not cheap,' says dealmaker Rubenstein)
Reuters reported in December that Carlyle was nearing an agreement to buy Johnson & Johnson's ortho clinical diagnostics unit for about $4 billion. It beat the Blackstone Group, which had made a bid with conglomerate Danaher, sources said at that time.
