Press Release Details

MELVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health, and medical practitioners, announced today that it will acquire Merritt Veterinary Supplies, Inc. (Merritt), an independent, family-owned supplier of animal health products. Merritt serves approximately 4,500 veterinary clinics across the eastern U.S., and has a particularly strong presence in the southeastern U.S.

Merritt had 2016 sales of approximately $115 million. Henry Schein expects the acquisition to be neutral to its 2017 earnings per share and to be accretive thereafter. Upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected in the third quarter of 2017, Merritt will become part of Henry Schein Animal Health, the U.S. animal health business of Henry Schein, Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of Merritt Veterinary Supplies, one of the nation's largest independent regional veterinary suppliers, will meaningfully add to the scale of our U.S. animal health business while reinforcing our existing animal health presence in the eastern U.S. It also will benefit our animal health diagnostic, equipment, and surgical instruments businesses, including scil, KRUUSE, and Veterinary Instrumentation," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "We look forward to serving Merritt's customers with the same high standards and commitment to helping veterinarians run more efficient, successful practices while providing the highest quality care."

Merritt is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, and was founded in 1938 by veterinarian Dr. Lloyd Merritt and his wife. Merritt has about 150 employees and offers a comprehensive line of products, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and equipment, some on an exclusive basis. At closing, Merritt's long-standing, loyal customers will benefit from a broader array of products, value-added services, and technology solutions.

Bobby Mims, President of Merritt Veterinary Supplies, said, "Merritt and Henry Schein share a deep commitment to providing the best customer experience possible. Our customers will benefit from the broader geographical presence of Henry Schein's distribution network as well as the company's commitment to provide customers with the products and services they need to operate successful veterinary practices. We are confident that the combined impact of our sales teams will result in greater value for our customers."

Henry Schein Animal Health, based in Dublin, Ohio, is the leading companion animal health distribution company in the United States. The company employs approximately 1,000 team members, including more than 250 field sales representatives and 150 telesales and customer support representatives. With 13 strategically located, state-of-the-art distribution facilities and seven inside sales centers, the company maintains a greater than 99 percent order-fill ratio, accomplishing its mission of providing the best customer experience possible.

About Henry Schein, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health, and medical practitioners. The company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites. A Fortune 500® company and a member of the S&P 500® and the Nasdaq 100® indexes, Henry Schein employs more than 21,000 Team Schein Members and serves more than 1 million customers.

The company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care. Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 120,000 branded products and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 180,000 additional products available as special-order items. The company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.                                         

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 32 countries. The company's sales reached a record $11.6 billion in 2016, and have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 15% since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995. For more information, visit Henry Schein at www.henryschein.com, Facebook.com/HenrySchein and @HenrySchein on Twitter.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

In accordance with the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein.  All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance.  These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These statements are identified by the use of such terms as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "anticipate" or other comparable terms.  A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC. These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.

Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: effects of a highly competitive and consolidating market; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; our dependence upon sales personnel, customers, suppliers and manufacturers; our dependence on our senior management; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; increases in shipping costs for our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; general global macro-economic conditions; risks associated with currency fluctuations; risks associated with political and economic uncertainty; disruptions in financial markets; volatility of the market price of our common stock; changes in the health care industry; implementation of health care laws; failure to comply with regulatory requirements and data privacy laws; risks associated with our global operations; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions and joint ventures, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions and joint ventures; litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; increased competition by third party online commerce sites; risks from disruption to our information systems; cyberattacks or other privacy or data security breaches; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority. 

We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict.  Accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.

Investors, Steven Paladino, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, steven.paladino@henryschein.com, (631) 843-5500; Carolynne Borders, Vice President, Investor Relations, carolynne.borders@henryschein.com, (631) 390-8105; Media, Ann Marie Gothard, Vice President, Corporate Media Relations, Annmarie.gothard@henryschein.com, (631) 390-8169