Owens & Minor is reducing its European presence by selling Movianto

January 24, 2020

French health-products distributor EHDH will acquire the asset

Owens & Minor, which operates globally as a health products distributor, is scaling down its global operations by agreeing to sell Movianto for an undisclosed price. O&M had acquired the business in 2012—and had made significant investments in Europe since then—but now says the intended transaction “would advance Owens & Minor’s mission by providing greater ability to focus on and invest in our differentiated products, services and US distribution businesses,” according to Ed Pesicka, CEO.

Wall Street greeted the news by pushing O&M’s stock up over 22%; on the other hand, even with that boost, the company’s stock is down over 12% from a year ago. O&M is expected to use the transaction to reduce debt. The company had made a major acquisition of US-based Halyard Health’s medical clothing business in 2018.

EHDH, privately held, operates primarily in France and Benelux, expects to become the leading pharmaceutical and medical products distributor in Europe through the transaction. Movianto has 2,500 teammates managing over 275,000 pallet locations spread over a network of 20 wholly owned warehouses in 11 European countries. “This opportunity comes at a key moment in our development and in response to market demand for a single contact to handle all logistics and transport services at European level,” stated Stéphane Baudry, EHDH CEO. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.