Rales Brothers Hoping For Repeat Of Danaher's M&A-Driven Success Story

Steven and Mitchell Rales are hoping they will be able to repeat history following this week’s spinoff of Fortive Group FTV from Danaher Corporation DHR. The brothers have built Danaher into a $43-billion-success story by taking an aggressive approach to M&A. Danaher has acquired more than 10 companies per year over the past decade and has steadily improved profit margins along the way.

Danaher shareholders received one share of Fortive for each share of Danaher owned.

“Fortive’s strategy will be the Danaher strategy,” Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau explained. “The board and the senior management have been doing this for quite some time and they’ve had a lot of success.”

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Fortive’s senior managers have overseen more than 200 acquisitions during their time at Danaher, and CEO Jim Lico said the spinoff has the power to make $3 billion in deals within the next three years.

The Rales brothers founded Danaher in the early 1980s and have now become billionaires in the wake of its success. Steve reportedly has a net worth of $2.3 billion and Mitchell is worth $1.1 billion.

Traders looking to get in on the spinoff have a high price to pay. Credit Suisse analyst Julian Mitchell said Fortive's current share price “already reflects a premium multiple to peers despite in-line-with-peer financial metrics.”

Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.