The pace of acquisitions, divestitures, mergers and partnerships has not waned over the last 12 months.
The large multi-national, multi-modality firms still are willing to commit their billion-dollar financial resources to expand in the direction that complements in-house technologies and broadens product portfolios.
There is no better example than Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam), which in the last year acquired the former ADAC Laboratories Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.), the Healthcare Solutions Group (Andover, Mass.) of Agilent Technologies Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Marconi Medical Systems Inc. (Highland Heights, Ohio) just a few weeks ago. Royal Philips invested a total of approximately $3.2 billion to buy the three entities.
While some eyes opened wide to billion-dollar deals and other observers viewed transaction news with a ‘ho hum, here we go again’ response, some companies displayed wise financial restraint by stepping away from deals rather than take too great a risk or lose control to an outside entity.
Here is a look back on where the industry has been and where it is going.
OCTOBER 2000
Rather than participate in industry consolidation, intravascular ultrasound developer Colorado Medtech Inc. (Boulder, Colo.) rejected an offer from HEI Inc. (Minneapolis) to merge. HEI offered $12 a share up to 8.5 million shares for a total value of $102 million … Syncor International Corp. (Woodland Hills, Calif.) expanded its medical imaging offerings by purchasing 13 imaging centers from US Diagnostic Inc. (USD of West Palm Beach, Fla.) for $31 million in cash and $1.3 million in debt … ADAC Laboratories Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.) agreed to sell the Cardiology Systems Group of its Health Care Information Systems business (HCIS of Houston) to Camtronics Medical Systems (Hartland, Wis.), a subsidiary of Analogic Corp. (Peabody, Mass.), as ADAC forecasts lower-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter revenues and earnings … GE Medical Systems (GEMS of Waukesha, Wis.) boosted its ultrasound offerings by acquiring ultrasound transducer developer Parallel Design Inc. (Phoenix) for an undisclosed amount … Contrast agent developers Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. (San Diego) and Molecular Biosystems Inc. (MBI of San Diego) unveiled plans to become one, with Alliance purchasing all of MBI’s outstanding shares for $10.4 million … It took nearly a year, but North American Scientific Inc. (NAS of Chatsworth, Calif.) finally completed its acquisition of Theseus Imaging Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.), a development stage company and developer of the radiopharmaceutical Apomate … Thermo Electron Corp. (Woburn, Mass.) took the remainder of Trex Medical Corp. (Danbury, Conn.) private before selling the business. The majority of Trex — excluding dental operations — was acquired by Hologic Corp. (Bedford, Mass.) in late September for $55 million … ADAC found a buyer for the rest of its HCIS unit. Healthcare information systems giant Cerner Corp. (Kansas City, Mo.) agreed to purchase non-cardiology-related assets for $6 million in cash … Tyco International Ltd. (Pembroke, Bermuda) succeeded in growing its healthcare business by $2.6 billion by completing the $4.2 billion acquisition of healthcare products maker Mallinckrodt Inc. (St. Louis) …
Please refer to the November 2001 issue for the complete story. For information on article reprints, contact Martin St. Denis
