Cardinal Health to buy Harvard Drug Group for $1.15B

LONDON – Cardinal Health Inc. said it will buy the Harvard Drug Group from Court Square Capital Partners for $1.15 billion to increase its distribution of generic drugs.

Cardinal Health will fund the acquisition with cash and new debt, the Dublin, Ohio-based company said Friday in a statement. The purchase will add more than 15 cents to earnings per share from continuing operations in fiscal-year 2016, it said.

Harvard Drug Group, a Livonia, Mich.-based distributor of generic drugs and over-the-counter remedies, had revenue of about $450 million last year, according to the statement. The purchase will also bolster Cardinal Health’s telesales capabilities and add specialized packaging options desired by hospitals.

“This acquisition enhances our ability to support retail and institutional customers and further utilizes Red Oak, our joint venture with CVS Health to source generics,” George Barrett, chairman and chief executive officer of Cardinal Health, said in the statement. Woonsocket-based CVS Health Corp. is the nation’s second-largest pharmacy benefits manager.

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Cardinal Health agreed in March to buy Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis business for about $1.9 billion, bulking up the medical distributor’s device-making capabilities. It plans to issue $1.5 billion in new debt to fund the Cordis and Harvard Drug Group purchases.

Cardinal Health’s shares have advanced 26 percent in the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of $29 billion.

Court Square Capital Partners, a New York-based private- equity firm, bought Harvard Drug Group in 2010 for an undisclosed price. Cardinal Health’s purchase is expected to be completed in the year ending in June 2016, the company said.

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