Hill-Rom advances after Kinetic Concepts sells competing business

Hill-Rom (HRC), which develops medical technologies, is rising after Kinetic Concepts (KCI) sold its Therapeutic Support Systems unit, which competes with Hill-Rom, to Getinge AB for a total enterprise value of $275M, on a debt free and cash free basis. The deal was announced last night. The valuation of the acquisition, along with speculation in the wake of the transaction that Hill-Rom could become a takeover target, may be driving the latter company's stock higher today. In mid-afternoon trading, Hill-Rom jumped $1.31, or 4.99%, to $27.58.