Baxter to buy Swedish firm Gambro for $4 billion

(AP) Drug and medical device maker Baxter International says it will buy the privately held Swedish company Gambro for about $4 billion to broaden its dialysis product portfolio.

The Deerfield, Ill., company says Gambro makes dialysis products for patients with acute or chronic kidney disease. It had sales of about $1.6 billion last year.

Baxter International Inc. says dialysis treatment rates are rising more than 5 percent annually, partly because of rising rates of diabetes and high blood pressure. It says more than 2 million people globally are on some form of dialysis.

Baxter will pay for the deal with a combination of debt and cash generated from overseas operations. It expects the acquisition to close in the first half of next year.