GE Healthcare just filed a confidential IPO, kickstarting a spinoff that would create one the world's biggest pharma giants

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• General Electric reportedly files for IPO of its health unit, planning a spinoff that would create one of the world's largest pharma giants.
• Bloomberg reports that the IPO will be publicly filed in the spring, and estimates the enterprise value of the business at between $65 billion and $70 billion.
• The industrial conglomerate is working with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley on its IPO plans.

General Electric has filed confidentially for an IPO of its health unit, planning a spinoff that would create one of the world's largest pharma giants.

That's according to Bloomberg, which citing people familiar with the matter, said GE is likely to publicly file in the spring. Bloomberg calculates that the newly spun off health company could have an enterprise value of $65 billion to $70 billion.

Enterprise value is typically calculated by adding market cap and debt among other things, and subtracting cash.

Read more: Healthcare deals hit an all-time record in 2018. See the 7 biggest tie-ups that could change how we buy drugs and treat diseases.

Germany's Siemens listed Healthineers unit in March, and its shares are up about 32% since, Bloomberg said, making it a €37 billion company. GE is working with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley on its IPO plans, Bloomberg reported.

GE's stock was up around 1.2% in pre-market trading, hitting $7.37 per share.

In other pharma news, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer also said the companies are combining their consumer health units in a venture valued at about 10 billion pounds, the FT said.

Get the latest General Electric stock price here.