Seeking Alpha: Owens & Minor And Medical Action Industries Find A Win-Win

Mutually beneficial deals may not be all that common in the med-tech world, but I think Owens & Minor's (OMI) acquisition of Medical Action Industries (MDCI) fits the bill. I was bullish on Medical Action Industries back in December and even though Owens & Minor is paying well above my fair value estimate, Owens & Minor has what I think is unique cost leverage in this deal to justify the price. The added value from this deal does push up my fair value estimate for Owens & Minor above today's price, but I'm still not exceptionally bullish given the harsh realities of the medical distribution industry.

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Owens & Minor And Medical Action Industries Find A Win-Win

Seeking Alpha: Medical Action Coming Along

When I last wrote on Medical Action Industries (MDCI) in April, I thought the shares looked like an interesting idea given management's intention to pare away less profitable products and really focus on improving margins. Since then the shares are up more than 40% and the company has followed through on their stated plan of self-improvement. Between ongoing margin improvement and a debt refinancing that created valuable breathing room, I believe these shares are worth more now and still have around 20% upside.

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Medical Action Coming Along

Seeking Alpha: Most Of The Action At Medical Action Will Come From Margins

When most med-tech companies trade at an EV-to-sales multiple of 2x to 4x, Medical Action Industries' (MDCI) 0.4x multiple is a pretty clear signal that something is very different about the company. In this case, we're talking about a small medical disposables company that has not only been seriously growth-challenged, but also had to absorb significant gross margin pressures. Although patient value-oriented investors may want to consider Medical Action Industries for its margin improvement potential, investors should keep in mind that the market seldom give full credit to companies with weak internal growth prospects.

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Most Of The Action At Medical Action Will Come From Margins

Cardinal Puts Some Cash To Work

Large piles of cash seem to tempt people into making bad decisions. At the corporate level, large cash balances often attract so-called "activist investors" looking for quick paydays or to embolden management into ill-timed buybacks or illogical acquisitions. That does not seem to be a problem with Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), though, as this large medical distributor has used almost $2 billion of its cash on hand to make a pair of acquisitions that seem to make a lot of sense. 

Kinray and Independent Pharmacies
Almost two weeks ago, Cardinal announced the acquisition of privately-held Kinray Inc for $1.3 billion in cash. A pharmaceutical distributor focused mostly on New York City and the Northeast U.S., Kinray will enhance Cardinal's exposure to independent pharmacies. While major chain pharmacies like Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) and CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) are a huge part of Cardinal's revenue base, the company makes a lot more money (on a margin basis) serving smaller customers, so expanding that customer base should be pretty accretive for Cardinal.

Buying Further into China ...
On Monday, Cardinal announced its latest deal - paying $470 million in cash (and assuming $60 million in debt) to acquire Zuellig Pharma China. Part of Zuellig Pharma (which in turn is part of the even larger Zuellig Group), Zuelling Pharma China is one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and medical devices and supplies in China. Serving over 123,000 independent pharmacies and 49,000 provider locations, this Zuellig buy certainly enhances Cardinal's scale in what is almost sure to be a major market for medical distribution for some time to come. (For more, see Top Factors That Drive Investment In China.)

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