Waukesha, Wis.-based GE Healthcare has agreed to acquire Boston-based surgical visualization company BK Medical from Altaris Capital Partners for $1.45 billion in cash.

According to company officials, BK Medical is an innovator in global intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation, used to guide clinicians during minimally invasive and robotic surgeries and to visualize deep tissue during procedures in neuro and abdominal surgery, and in ultrasound urology. BK Medical is headquartered in Boston and Copenhagen with more than 650 employees and is delivering double-digit revenue growth.

“Ultrasound today forms an integral part of many care pathways, and BK Medical is a strategic and highly complementary addition to our growing and profitable ultrasound business,” says GE Healthcare President and CEO Kieran Murphy. “This transaction helps GE Healthcare continue to expand beyond diagnostics into surgical and therapeutic interventions, simplifying decision-making for clinicians and equipping them with greater insights to deliver faster, more personalized care for their patients—representing another step toward delivering precision health.”

This transaction is expected to create value by further strengthening BK Medical, including through significant synergies with the benefit of GE’s technology and commercial scale. This transaction enables BK Medical’s Active Imaging platform to reach new customers and new markets around the world, and the combination of GE Healthcare’s diagnostic imaging technology with BK’s ability to enable decision-making and surgical visualization in intervention will allow better decision-making throughout the care continuum. GE Healthcare expects BK Medical to deliver rapid revenue growth as well as margin expansion and free cash flow growth. GE Healthcare also expects high-single-digit return on invested capital by year five.

 “Adding the fast-growing and relatively new field of real-time surgical visualization to GE’s pre- and post-operative Ultrasound capabilities will create an end-to-end offering through the full continuum of care—from diagnosis through therapy and beyond. GE Healthcare and BK Medical share a passion for clinical innovation, and I’m excited to welcome BK Medical to our team,” says GE Healthcare Ultrasound President and CEO Roland Rott.

The parties expect the transaction to close in 2022, subject to review by the relevant regulatory authorities.

“We are immensely proud of the organization and of the life-changing technology that we have built at BK Medical, and look forward to our future as part of the GE Healthcare family,” says BK Medical President and CEO Brooks West. “Combining our expertise in intraoperative imaging and surgical navigation with GE Healthcare’s many strengths and global presence will accelerate our mission to change the standard of care in surgical interventions.”