Drug wholesaler McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK), San Francisco, CA, has agreed to acquire Celesio AG, a Germany-based distributor, in a transaction valued at $8.3 billion, including the assumption of Celesio’s outstanding debt.
The combined group is expected to have annual revenues of more than $150 billion (€111 billion), about 81,500 employees worldwide and operations in more than 20 countries.
“The combination of McKesson and Celesio will create a leading global healthcare services platform that will advance our customers’ ability to deliver better, more efficient healthcare solutions,” said John H. Hammergren, CEO, McKesson. “The healthcare industry is evolving rapidly, marked by convergence between segments and increased globalization. With today’s announcement, we will bring together the strengths and expertise of each company to address global healthcare challenges.”
McKesson and Celesio have complementary geographic footprints, with Celesio focused primarily on Europe and Brazil and McKesson on the U.S.
After completion of the transaction, McKesson and Celesio expect to maintain their own brands and continue to support customers through existing channels.
The operations of Celesio will be part of McKesson’s Distribution Solutions segment, headed by Paul C. Julian.
McKesson and Celesio deliver to approximately 120,000 pharmacy and hospital locations on a daily basis in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Brazil, including more than 11,000 pharmacies that are either owned or are part of a strategic banner or franchise network of community pharmacies.
McKesson is buying 50.01 percent of the company from the majority shareholder. McKesson will also launch parallel tender offers for Celesio’s publicly-traded shares.
Get more analysis on the deal from Adam Fein, who writes that the transaction is long-expected.
