Cardinal Health Completes Sale of Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services Segment to The Blackstone Group
DUBLIN, Ohio, April 10, 2007 — Cardinal Health, a global provider of products and services that improve the safety and productivity of health care, today announced it has completed the sale of its Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS) segment to The Blackstone Group for approximately $3.3 billion.
Cardinal Health announced on Nov. 30, 2006 that it planned to divest PTS to focus resources on its four remaining segments serving health-care provider customers, and on Jan. 25, 2007 Cardinal Health announced the agreement with Blackstone.
PTS is a leading provider of advanced technologies and outsourced services for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer health industry. PTS develops, manufactures and packages pharmaceutical and other products for customers in nearly 100 countries, employs approximately 10,000 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and generates more than $1.7 billion in annual revenue. Among its core offerings, PTS develops and manufactures oral and sterile pharmaceuticals in nearly all major dosage forms, and offers proprietary technologies used in many well-known prescriptions and over-the-counter products. PTS is also the largest contract packager of pharmaceuticals.
“We are pleased to begin this new chapter in our history,” said John Lowry, Chief Executive Officer of PTS. ”We have a long heritage of providing customers with creative solutions and consistent service, and we expect to create even more value for our customers in the future with Blackstone as our partner.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Chinh Chu, Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group, said: “We believe the pharmaceutical outsourcing sector is in its early stages of growth as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies of all sizes will increasingly rely on third parties for the development, manufacture, and packaging of pharmaceutical and other products. Blackstone is pleased to be partnering with the existing PTS management team, led by CEO John Lowry, who will be significant investors in PTS alongside Blackstone.”
About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $79 billion, global company serving the health-care industry with products and services that help hospitals, physician offices and pharmacies reduce costs, improve safety, productivity and profitability, and deliver better care to patients. With a focus on making supply chains more efficient, reducing hospital-acquired infections and breaking the cycle of harmful medication errors, Cardinal Health develops market-leading technologies, including Alaris® IV pumps, Pyxis® automated dispensing systems, MedMined® data mining software and the CareFusion® patient identification system. The company also manufactures medical and surgical products and is one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies worldwide. Ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500 and No. 1 in its sector on Fortune’s ranking of Most Admired firms, Cardinal Health employs more than 40,000 people on five continents. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com.
About the Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group is a leading global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. Its alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate opportunity funds, funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt funds, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward- looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. These uncertainties include (but are not limited to) the following: competitive pressures; the loss of one or more key customer or supplier relationships or changes to the terms of those relationships; changes in the distribution patterns or reimbursement rates for health-care products and/or services; the results, consequences, effects or timing of any inquiry or investigation by or settlement discussions with any regulatory authority or any legal and administrative proceedings, including shareholder litigation; the costs, difficulties and uncertainties related to the integration of acquired businesses; and general economic and market conditions. Except to the extent required by applicable law, none of Cardinal Health, Blackstone or PTS undertakes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.