What happened
Shares of Danaher (DHR 2.52%) were down more than 14% as of Monday at 11:45 a.m. The industrial science and technology conglomerate announced Saturday it had completed the spinoff of its environmental and applied solutions segment into the new public company Veralto (NYSE: VLTO). Danaher stock is down more than 9% year to date.
So what
Under the terms of the spinoff, Danaher stockholders got one share of Veralto for every three shares of Danaher stock they owned. The move is meant to allow Danaher to focus more on its biotechnology, life sciences, and diagnostics segments while allowing Veralto to be more focused on its core business, which comprises two segments: water quality, and product quality and innovation. Danaher remains a huge conglomerate with 65,000 employees and 15 operating companies under its umbrella.