Owens & Minor has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the surgical and infection prevention ("S&IP") business of Halyard Health, Inc. for approximately $710 million in cash. The highly complementary business will increase scale and profitability across Owens & Minor's global business, while also enhancing the company's owned-brand product portfolio and expanding the company's global network into new markets and channels.

Halyard's S&IP business is a leading global provider of medical supplies and solutions for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections across acute care and non-acute care markets. S&IP's focused portfolio of surgical and infection prevention offerings, which includes sterilization wraps, surgical drapes and gowns, facial protection, protective apparel and medical exam gloves, is highly regarded in the industry. Recognized S&IP brands include surgical drape products such as Aeroblue and Aerochrome; exam gloves including purple, lavender and sterling; and sterilization wrap such as ONE-STEP, QUICK CHECK and SMART-FOLD. As a market leader with a differentiated product portfolio and strong brand recognition, S&IP brings an experienced global sales force with direct channel access to both acute care and non-acute care markets throughout the world. Additionally, S&IP brings a world-class manufacturing network, a strong pipeline of new products, and a successful track record of bringing products to the global market.

"Halyard's S&IP business is a market leader in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and its portfolio of products and services is highly complementary to the innovative solutions we currently provide to our customers," says P. Cody Phipps, chairman, president and CEO. "In today's rapidly changing healthcare industry, Owens & Minor is taking aggressive steps to strengthen and diversify our business model, and this transaction supports and enhances our ability to execute our strategy and provides significant opportunities for growth."

"This transaction is both strategically and financially compelling," says Richard Meier, EVP, CFO and president-International. "It will allow us to enhance our product offerings to our acute care and non-acute care customers in a wider range of global markets and—combined with our recent acquisition of Byram Healthcare—will position us to achieve sustainable, profitable growth."