Henry Schein Completes Acquisition of NLS Animal Health
MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2006--Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of NLS Animal Health, a privately held, full-service veterinary distribution business, based in Owings Mills, Maryland. This acquisition represents a significant increase in Henry Schein's veterinary footprint in the United States, which along with its growing European veterinary presence, offers Henry Schein vendor partners a unique opportunity to access veterinarians on an international basis. Financial terms of the transaction were not released.
As previously announced on March 8, this acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Henry Schein's 2006 diluted earnings per share, and to add an estimated $0.02 to $0.04 per share in 2007.
NLS Animal Health serves approximately 8,000 companion animal clinics in 26 states in the South-Central, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States, and had 2005 sales of approximately $110 million. The acquisition adds more than 60 sales representatives, with an average tenure in excess of 10 years, to Henry Schein's existing veterinary sales force.
"We are delighted to welcome NLS Animal Health team members and its customers to Henry Schein," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "With a significantly bolstered presence in the U.S. companion-animal veterinary market, we look forward to growing this business, to providing superior service to our veterinary customers and to adding value to the manufacturers whose products and services we sell."
About Henry Schein
Henry Schein, a Fortune 500(R) company, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. The Company's four business groups - Dental, Medical, International and Technology - serve more than 500,000 customers worldwide, including dental practices and laboratories, physician practices and veterinary clinics, as well as government and other institutions. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 70,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as over 100,000 additional products available to our customers as special order items.
Henry Schein also offers a wide range of innovative value-added practice solutions for healthcare professionals, such as ArubA(R), the Company's electronic catalog and ordering system. Its leading practice-management software solutions have been installed in more than 50,000 practices, including DENTRIX(R) and Easy Dental(R) for dental practices, and AVImark(R) for veterinary clinics.
Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs nearly 11,000 people and has operations in 19 countries. The Company's sales reached a record $4.6 billion in 2005. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.
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 which, 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 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: competitive factors; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in government regulations that affect us; financial risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; our dependence upon sales personnel and key customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service trouble with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; risks from potential increases in variable interest rates; financial risks associated with acquisitions; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation that affect us. 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, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Henry Schein, Inc.
Steven Paladino, 631-843-5500
steven.paladino@henryschein.com
or
Susan Vassallo, 631-843-5562
susan.vassallo@henryschein.com
SOURCE: Henry Schein, Inc.