Baxter veteran and CFO James Saccaro to leave for rival GE Healthcare

(Reuters) -GE HealthCare on Tuesday named James Saccaro as its finance chief, hiring him from rival medical device maker Baxter International Inc where he has been in the same role for about eight years.

He will leave at the end of May, Baxter said, and appointed Brian Stevens as the interim chief financial officer while it searches for a new CFO.

Saccaro's departure from Baxter, where he has been employed for a total of 21 years, comes as the company is set to divest its biopharma solutions business and is planning to spin off its kidney care unit.

The company had on Monday said a private equity group, which includes Warburg Pincus and Advent International, has agreed to buy its biopharma solutions unit for $4.25 billion.

GE HealthCare said its incumbent CFO Helmut Zodl will continue to lead special projects regarding separation from GE.

The company had recently separated from the conglomerate GE as the combined unit suffered due to underperformance in its renewable energy business as result of regulatory uncertainty.

(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun Koyyur)