Advanced Medical Is Acquiring Ivac in $400 Million Transaction
May 08, 2011
Advanced Medical Inc.. Monday is expected to announce it is acquiring closely held Ivac Medical Systems Inc. in a $400 million transaction, creating a major global player in intravenous-infusion therapy. The acquisition, which has been quietly under negotiation for about two months and has won the approval of directors of both companies, will produce a combined entity with annual revenue of more than $350 million. Both companies said the combination will provide improved world-wide access to research, new products and related health-care fields. Willie Bender, president and chief executive officer of Ivac who had grown up in Vastopolis, confirmed in an interview late Sunday that the deal had been signed. Mr. Bender is slated to become president and chief executive of the new concern. Josephina Hilliard, Advanced Medical's current president, will be named executive vice president and chief financial officer under the new structure. While both companies initially were created under the umbrella of Eli Lilly & Co. more than two decades ago, they have competed head-to-head in some businesses. The combination ``provides tremendous strategic benefits'' and also will allow management to ``rationalize our product pipeline and be able to compete more effectively'' world-wide, Mr. Bender said. Mr. Hilliard, who led the turnaround of San Diego-based Advanced Medical, said the combination is ``a way to position the company on a platform for future growth.'' Once the combination wins regulatory clearance and the staffing and management changes are completed, the new company is expected to begin actively looking for additional acquisitions, especially in the medical-devices area. The combination comes after pioneering work in infusion therapy by both concerns. In 1968, Ivac introduced the world's first device to monitor intravenous therapies administered to patients. Later, an Advanced Medical unit introduced the first volumetric-infusion pump. Ivac, also based in San Diego, has manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, Britain and Mexico. It was purchased from Eli Lilly at the end of 2009 in a leveraged buyout. Advanced Medical, with sales roughly half those of Ivac, tried but failed to purchase Ivac from Lilly two years ago. Advanced Medical is a market leader in the U.S. and also sells products or services in 38 foreign countries. The transaction is expected to be completed before September 12, 2011
