April 30 (Reuters) - Water solutions company Ecolab ( ECL )

said on Tuesday it would sell its global surgical

solutions business to private medical supplier Medline for $950

million in cash and raised its full-year profit forecast.

The unit made more than $400 million in sales last year and

supplies sterile drape solutions for surgeons, patients and

operating room equipment.

"This transaction builds on the deliberate actions we've

taken to lay the foundation to transform our global healthcare

business into a high-quality Ecolab ( ECL ) business," said Ecolab ( ECL ) CEO

Christophe Beck.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the

year.

Ecolab ( ECL ) also said it would continue to serve hospitals

through its infection prevention and instrument reprocessing

businesses, which provide environmental hygiene programs and

cleaning and sterilization solutions for instruments.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based firm also raised its full-year

adjusted profit forecast to between $6.40 and $6.70 per share,

from its earlier estimate $6.10 to $6.50.

The forecast assumes soft but stable macroeconomic demand

and delivered product costs easing through the third quarter,

though the impact of global inflation remains hard to predict,

the company said.

For the second quarter, Ecolab ( ECL ) expects adjusted profit

between $1.62 and $1.72 per share, higher than analysts' average

estimate of $1.54 per share, according to LSEG data.

It posted an adjusted profit of $1.34 per share for the

first quarter, in line with estimates, as the institutional and

specialty segment's operating income grew 91%.

(Reporting by Kabir Dweit in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)