Apollo Global Management is in talks to buy Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Synthes orthopedics unit for close to $20 billion, Bloomberg reported on September 11. An agreement could come within weeks, though the talks could still end without one. Neither company has commented.
That is not the plan J&J announced. In October 2025 the company said it would separate orthopedics into a standalone business within 18 to 24 months. CFO Joe Wolk said the primary focus was a tax-free spinoff, with an IPO as the alternative. He also said not to expect material updates until mid-2026.
DePuy Synthes recorded $9.3 billion in sales in 2025 against $9.2 billion in 2024. That is roughly 29 percent of J&J MedTech revenue. J&J assembled the unit out of DePuy, bought for $3.5 billion, and Synthes, bought for about $21 billion.
A spinoff and a leveraged buyout are different outcomes for anyone selling into ortho or hoping to be acquired by it. Debt service usually comes out of R&D budgets and tuck-in deals first. The same week, J&J sold its Laminar left atrial appendage program to a venture-backed startup.