Cardinal Health Inc plans to buy Viasys Healthcare Inc

Cardinal Health Inc., medical products and services company, will buy medical technology company Viasys Healthcare Inc. for $1.42 billion (1.05 billion EUR), that will help Cardinal expand in international markets.

Photo: Cardinal Health Inc plans to buy Viasys Healthcare Inc

Cardinal Health Inc plans to buy Viasys Healthcare Inc

Cardinal will pay $42.75 per share for Viasys' outstanding shares, a 35 percent premium over its closing stock price of $31.55 on Friday. Viasys stock jumped 37 percent, or $11.58, to a record $43.13 per share in trading Monday afternoon. Cardinal also will assume debt of $50 million (37 million EUR).

Pennsylvania-based Viasys, which had revenue of $610 million (450 million EUR) in 2006, has about 40 percent of its customers in international markets. The company makes ventilators and diagnostic systems used to diagnose and treat pulmonary disease and instruments that monitor the brain, muscles, blood flow, hearing and nerves. It also makes orthopedic implants.

Cardinal is an $80 billion (59.04 billion EUR) company that makes products and provides services for hospitals, doctors and pharmacies. It said the addition of Viasys complements its products, which include those that address medication errors, adverse drug reactions and infection prevention. Cardinal also makes surgical drapes, gowns and other products to improve critical care and reduce hospital-acquired infections.

"Viasys is a perfect strategic fit with our mission to help providers make health care safer and offers immediate revenue and earnings opportunities in key geographies worldwide," said R. Kerry Clark, Cardinal Health chief executive, in a statement.

Randy Thurman, chairman, president and chief executive of Viasys, agreed that both companies have a lot in common.

"In addition to the exceptional product fit between our two companies, there is a strong cultural fit among our management teams, and our missions - to improve the safety of health care - are well-aligned," he said in a statement.

Clark told analysts on a conference call that the deal will give Cardinal new opportunities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

"It has a lot to do with the products and technologies at bedside, which is clearly emerging, our ability to grow our medical and clinical products businesses internationally, and to drive a lot of scale and synergy across the businesses we have," he said.

Clark told analysts on a conference call that Cardinal had to move quickly on the deal after learning that another company was interested in Viasys.

Cardinal, based in this Columbus suburb, expects the purchase to add to earnings in fiscal 2009 and even more so in fiscal 2010.