Deerfield-based Baxter International announced Monday that its CEO and board chair José Almeida is retiring, effective immediately – an announcement that came just days after the company sold its kidney care business for $3.7 billion.
Baxter did not say in a news release why Almeida is retiring now, effective immediately, but Almeida said in the release, “With the key elements of our broad strategic transformation complete, this is the right time for a new CEO to lead the company into its next chapter.”
Almeida had served as CEO of the company, which makes hospital products, since 2016. He will work in an advisory role at the company through the end of October. In that advisory role, Almeida will receive a salary based on an annual rate of $650,000, and he will receive a lump sum payment of $6.89 million after he leaves the company, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Baxter appointed lead independent director Brent Shafer as chair and interim CEO while it searches for a new, permanent CEO. Shafer thanked Almeida for his service in the release.
“Joe has guided the company through a period of significant evolution and portfolio repositioning, including the recently closed sale of its Kidney Care business, while navigating market challenges and evolving conditions,” Shafer said.
The news came just days after the company closed on its sale of its kidney care business to global investment firm Carlyle for $3.7 billion. That business is now a new company called Vantive. Though Vantive is a standalone company, it will continue to be based in north suburban Chicago, a spokesperson said Monday.
Baxter’s sale of the kidney care business was part of a three-pronged strategy, announced by the company in 2023, to strengthen and transform the company. That plan followed the acquisition of Hillrom, a medical equipment and technology company, in late 2021 for $10.5 billion. Baxter revealed an impairment charge in 2022 of $3.1 billion related to the Hillrom acquisition, meaning Hillrom was no longer worth what Baxter had paid for it.
As part of its restructuring following the troubled acquisition, Baxter said in 2023 that it planned to lay off less than 5% of its workers across the globe.
Baxter has also spent recent months ramping back up production of IV solutions, after its largest manufacturing plant, in North Carolina, was damaged by Hurricane Helene in September, alarming hospitals that depend on those fluids. Baxter said last week that it expects to be back up to pre-hurricane levels of production at the plant within the first quarter of this year.
