A spinoff was the company’s preferred approach when it announced the separation in October 2025. Since then, the prospect of a sale has become more concrete: Reuters reported in September, citing Bloomberg, that Apollo Global Management ($APO) had discussed acquiring the unit in a transaction potentially worth about $20 billion. Wolk’s comments put the proposed shareholder distribution back in the foreground, although J&J has announced neither final deal terms nor a board-approved distribution.
What is DePuy Synthes worth?
DePuy Synthes sold approximately $9.3 billion of orthopaedic products in 2025, up 1.1% from 2024, according to J&J’s annual filing. The September report’s $20 billion transaction figure works out to approximately 2.15 times those sales. That is a rough scale comparison: the reported figure was neither an agreed purchase price nor a disclosed equity value with a specified allocation of debt, cash and liabilities.
A sale could deliver negotiated cash consideration to J&J, subject to taxes and the liabilities included in the transaction. In a pro rata spinoff, JNJ holders would ordinarily retain their parent shares and receive stock in an independent DePuy Synthes, whose equity value would be established in the market. J&J has not disclosed whether it will use a pro rata distribution, an exchange offer or another structure. Without a defined debt and liability allocation, the reported $20 billion sale valuation offers little guidance to the new company’s per-share value.
Orthopaedics is growing, though the parent wants a different mix
J&J’s third-quarter sales tables show reported orthopaedics growth of 3.2%, with sales of $2.345 billion, and nine-month growth of 4.8%, with sales of $7.146 billion. The business accounts for slightly more than a quarter of MedTech revenue, giving it enough scale that its removal will materially alter the parent’s reported product mix.
| Reported sales | 2026 | 2025 comparison | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orthopaedics, third quarter | $2.345 billion | $2.274 billion | +3.2% |
| Orthopaedics, first nine months | $7.146 billion | $6.820 billion | +4.8% |
| MedTech, third quarter | $8.642 billion | $8.430 billion | +2.5% |
Removing Orthopaedics would not have raised MedTech’s third-quarter reported sales growth rate on the simple arithmetic of the current portfolio. Subtracting Orthopaedics from reported MedTech sales leaves approximately $6.297 billion in third-quarter 2026 revenue, versus $6.156 billion one year earlier, or growth of about 2.3%. The remaining MedTech businesses therefore grew more slowly than Orthopaedics in that quarter. This is an illustrative revenue calculation, not formal pro forma guidance; it excludes future portfolio changes, allocations and operating performance.
J&J has emphasized cardiovascular technology, surgery and vision as priorities for the remaining MedTech business. Management expects a more focused J&J to direct investment toward those businesses, while an independent DePuy Synthes would control its own product development and restructuring. The separated company’s operating margins, investment needs and balance sheet are still undisclosed, so the value of that independence cannot yet be quantified.
The separation is already generating material charges. In its October 13 earnings reconciliation, J&J identified $369 million of pre-tax orthopaedics-separation-related adjustments in the third quarter and $746 million for the first nine months of 2026. These are expenses classified by J&J for its adjusted-earnings presentation; they should not be mistaken for DePuy’s standalone operating costs or used to infer its future margins.
Mid-2027 target, with the actual distribution still undefined
J&J originally outlined an 18-to-24-month separation timetable in October 2025. Management’s mid-2027 target now gives investors a narrower planning horizon, but J&J has not disclosed a record date, distribution ratio, ticker, opening balance sheet or complete standalone financial statements. Namal Nawana, appointed to lead DePuy Synthes in 2025, remains the executive guiding the business toward separation.
The company has scheduled an Enterprise Business Review for December 8 to discuss its 2027 outlook and longer-term growth drivers. J&J has made no commitment to release definitive DePuy transaction documents at that event. Investors will need the final structure and an account of transferred debt, cash, liabilities and tax treatment before the proposed split can be valued on anything approaching a like-for-like basis with the reported sale interest.
Our original report on the separation plan examined the business when J&J first announced it. The October 11 Odds & Ends roundup described the unresolved structure before Wolk’s new remarks. DePuy Synthes remains in the Upcoming Spinoffs calendar,
Disclosure: The author holds on position in any stock mentioned