GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. has sold its bio-pharma business to Danaher Corp. for $21.4 billion. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/DANIEL ACKER
NEW YORK - General Electric Co. surged as much as 19 percent after agreeing to sell its bio-pharma business to Danaher Corp. for $21.4 billion, a transformative step in the new CEO’s effort to rescue the troubled behemoth. GE halted plans to spin off its broader health-care business as it focuses on completing the deal,…