STERIS Corp. Acquired Albert Browne Ltd
STERIS Corporation announced on 15 sep, 2004, that it has acquired Albert Browne Limited (Browne), a privately-held manufacturer of chemical indicators based in the United Kingdom (U.K.). This acquisition fits STERIS’s strategic goal of expanding the Company’s offering of consumable products used with its broad line of capital equipment for infection control and decontamination.
STERIS Corporation.
The mission of STERIS Corporation is to provide a healthier today and safer tomorrow through knowledgeable people and innovative infection prevention, decontamination and health science technologies, products and services. The Company’s more than 5,000 dedicated employees around the world work together to supply a broad array of solutions by offering a combination of equipment, consumables and services to healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial and government customers. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STE. For more information, visit http://www.steris.com.
Albert Browne Limited (Browne)
Albert Browne Limited was the first company to create a chemical indicator for the sterilization of medical instruments in the 1930s, and has maintained a leading position in the U.K. market through continuous enhancement of their products. Today, Browne sells a complete line of chemical indicators to healthcare facilities in over 70 countries, supported by strong technical and development capabilities, 73 dedicated employees, and a manufacturing facility located in Leicester, England
Chemical indicators are single-use consumables that support a healthcare facility’s quality assurance program by confirming the conditions required for sterilization have been achieved within a sterilizer.
STERIS acquired all of the outstanding shares of Browne for 28.9 million pounds sterling (approximately U.S. $51.6 million), net of 3.2 million pounds in cash acquired at the close of the transaction. The transaction was financed entirely with the Company’s existing cash. For the year ending December 31, 2003, Browne’s revenues were 8.6 million pounds. The transaction is expected to be neutral to STERIS’s earnings in fiscal 2005, and contribute approximately $0.01 to $0.02 to earnings in fiscal 2006.
Les C. Vinney, STERIS’s President and Chief Executive Officer said that, STERIS is unique in its ability to offer integrated customer solutions by combining capital equipment, consumables and service to clean, disinfect, sterilize, transport and store medical devices. This acquisition supports our desire to strengthen our higher margin consumable offering, broadens our technical knowledge, and adds a new channel into the European market. These are key elements of our growth strategy. We welcome the talented employees of Albert Browne and look forward to working with them to enhance the growth in this product line through STERIS’s strong channel in North America where we have more than 1,000 people serving our hospital customers’ needs everyday.
These statements, “forward-looking statements” are described as under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other laws and regulations.