C.R. Bard has said that it agreed to pay $181 million to acquire Liberator Medical, a direct-to-consumer distributor of durable medical equipment.
According to a company statement, Bard will pay $3.35 per share for Liberator, and the bid is a 36% premium over Liberator’s 90-day average closing price through yesterday.
“This acquisition is a key building block in our strategy to access faster growing markets,” chairman & CEO Timothy Ring said. “As the population ages and more healthcare is expected to occur outside of the hospital setting, we believe that having direct access to the patient in the home is strategically important. We look forward to adding a strong distribution platform with potential for future growth to our product and technology platforms. We also look forward to continuing to work with the other manufacturers that are part of Liberator’s product offering.”
“We are pleased to reach a milestone in the growth of Liberator by entering into this agreement with C. R. Bard,” Liberator founder & CEO Mark Libratore said, according to Mass Device. ” We expect that this transaction will create attractive long-term synergies and opportunities for our business partners and customers from the combined companies’ ability to offer a broader portfolio of products. We plan to continue offering the same high-quality products to our customers in urology, ostomy, diabetes and mastectomy from our existing suppliers, plus an expanded range of additional categories of high-quality products from Bard.”
Photo: Flickr user Images Money
