10:44am Saturday 5th July 2008
By Newsdesk
Bosses at Johnson & Johnson are considering an offer for its wound care business from investment bankers.
The Gargrave plant is the operations centre for the wound care section of the company, which recorded sales of £135 million last year.
One Equity Partners, part of investment bankers JP Morgan Chase, wants to buy the professional wound care business from parent company Ethicon.
Wound care operations director Mark Kirkup said if the offer was accepted and the conditions were satisfied, the transaction was expected to be completed by the end of this year. But he stressed that none of the 300 staff at Gargrave would lose their jobs.
He said: "One Equity are managing partners investing in businesses which have potential to grow and they work with the management team - they are not being replaced and the employees stay with them.
"There are excellent prospects - it is a new beginning for the business. It's an exciting time."
Works councils and trade unions had been informed and would be consulted.
Andrew Wood, a Johnson & Johnson employee and chairman of Gargrave Parish Council, saw the move as positive.
"They are a major employer in the area. There will be changes and people are not happy but, when we are in a credit crunch and businesses are failing, we should be grateful we have an opportunity to take the company forward," he said.
The management called a meeting of staff on Tuesday afternoon to explain the situation and employees were then allowed to go home and digest the information, he said.
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