Henry Schein Signs Agreement To Expand Animal Health Presence To Ireland With The Acquisition Of C&M Vetlink

MELVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire C&M Vetlink, a leading distributor of animal health products in Ireland.  The closing of this acquisition is subject to receipt of approval by 90 percent of C&M Vetlink shareholders, as well as approval by Ireland's Competition Authority.  These conditions are expected to be satisfied by the end of the year. The transaction is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to Henry Schein's financial results for 2013. Financial terms were not disclosed.

C&M was founded in 1973 as a distributor of certain pharmaceutical products in Ireland. Today, C&M Vetlink distributes a wide variety of veterinary and companion animal health products to veterinarians across Ireland and had sales of approximately €42 million ($54.7 million) for the 12 months ended July 30, 2012.  Approximately 70 percent of sales are for large animals, reflecting the importance of dairy farming and livestock to the Irish economy, with the majority of sales from pharmaceutical products.  With headquarters in Limerick, Ireland and warehouses in Limerick and Dublin, C&M Vetlink has 46 team members including 11 salespeople.

"As the premier provider of products and services to office-based veterinarians in Europe, we look forward to extending our Pan-European presence to Ireland through the acquisition of C&M Vetlink," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein.  "The strong legacy of C&M Vetlink will immediately position us as a leading Irish animal health distributor and complement our well-established animal health business in the United Kingdom and in other European countries.  We very much welcome the opportunity to build on the firm foundation of C&M Vetlink and to providing our Irish veterinary customers with even more products and services to meet their practice needs."

Upon closing, Edmond Wall, C&M Vetlink's Managing Director, will join Henry Schein as Managing Director, C&M Vetlink, Ireland; and Jim Spratt, C&M Vetlink's Assistant Managing Director, will join Henry Schein as Operations Director, C&M Vetlink, Ireland. 

About Henry Schein's Animal Health Business

Henry Schein is the leading Pan-European distributor of animal health products and services.  With the addition of C&M Vetlink, the company will serve veterinary customers in 11 countries across Europe, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  With annual sales of more than $2 billion, Henry Schein's global Animal Health business also includes operations in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

About Henry Schein, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners.  The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites.  A Fortune 500® Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, Henry Schein employs more than 15,000 Team Schein Members and serves approximately 775,000 customers.  The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care.  Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 25 countries.  The Company's sales reached a record $8.5 billion in 2011, and have grown at a compound annual rate of 18 percent since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995.  For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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 that, 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: effects of a highly competitive market; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; our dependence upon sales personnel, customers, suppliers and manufacturers; our dependence on our senior management; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; general global macro-economic conditions; disruptions in financial markets; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; changes in the health care industry; implementation of health care laws; failure to comply with regulatory requirements and data privacy laws; risks associated with our international operations; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions and joint ventures, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions and joint ventures; litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from rapid technological change; risks from disruption to our information systems; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation. 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, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.