Waters Corp Is Taking On Thermo Fisher & Danaher With This $17.5 Billion Becton Dickinson Acquisition!

Waters Corporation has officially entered a new phase of its growth journey with the $17.5 billion acquisition of Becton Dickinson’s biosciences and diagnostic-solutions business. The deal, announced in July 2025, is structured as a merger but effectively represents a strategic divestiture by Becton Dickinson, which has opted to focus more intensively on its core medtech operations. Waters, best known for its laboratory instrumentation and software, will issue 39% of its shares to BD shareholders and assume $4 billion in debt. In return, Waters will gain access to a diagnostics business that not only doubles its total addressable market to roughly $40 billion but also introduces a largely recurring revenue stream—with 70% of sales expected to be recurring annually. BD will receive a $4 billion cash distribution before the deal closes, and the combined company will be led by current Waters CEO Udit Batra. While the acquisition presents meaningful opportunities, integration complexity and investor skepticism have also come into focus.