Danbury, Conn.
In one of the industry's most significant business transactions
this year, Praxair Healthcare Services has acquired Beaumont,
Texas-based Home Care Supply, one of the largest privately held
home care companies in the country, for $245 million.
Praxair bought the company from New York-based Harvest Partners,
a multinational private equity firm, and after approval from both
company boards, the deal closed in June.
With 59 locations in 13 states, Home Care Supply generated
revenues of $169 million in 2003, a 14 percent increase from 2002
levels, according to company officials. The company employs
approximately 1,200.
Combining their operations, Praxair Healthcare Services and Home
Care Supply will create a $525 million health care business in
North America and expand Praxair's worldwide health care sales to
more than $750 million.
“The acquisition of Home Care Supply is a good
organizational fit with Praxair and gives us service capabilities
in 27 states,” said Praxair Healthcare Services President
George Ristevski. “It also increases the density of our
Northeast operations and significantly expands our presence from
the mid-Atlantic to Texas. Our combined industry expertise and
geographic reach will provide an excellent platform for sustained
growth and will further accelerate our hospital-to-home
strategy.”
Home Care Supply's current management team is expected to
continue at Praxair, with Todd Christopher, the company's CEO and
president, becoming vice president, U.S. Homecare, Praxair's chief
operating position for its U.S. home care business.
“Certainly Praxair was already a major player, but [this
acquisition] demonstrates the company's further commitment to the
industry,” said Bob Leonard, an associate with
Pittsburgh-based The Braff Group, a merger and acquisition firm
specializing in the home care industry. “It gives them a
substantial uptick in size and a whole bunch of new
geography.”
Praxair, the largest supplier of industrial gases in North and
South America, had 2003 sales of $5.6 billion. Praxair Healthcare
Services provides the home care market with home oxygen, sleep
therapy, enteral services, respiratory medications and HME.
According to the company's annual report, its North American home
care business was up 14 percent in 2003.
With the acquisition of Home Care Supply completed, health care
business will account for approximately 13 percent of Praxair sales
worldwide, the company said.
For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service
of the home medical equipment industry.
