Henry Schein Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire AUV Veterinary Services B.V.

MELVILLE, N.Y., April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to dental, medical and animal health office-based practitioners, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AUV Veterinary Services B.V., the veterinary distribution business of the AUV Group, a privately held company headquartered in Cuijk, the Netherlands.  AUV Veterinary Services is the leading distributor serving animal health practitioners in the Netherlands and Belgium, and reported net sales for 2011 of euros 194.2 million (USD $270.4 million).  Pending regulatory approval and upon closing, which is expected later this quarter, the acquired business is expected to be slightly dilutive to Henry Schein's 2012 earnings per share, and accretive thereafter. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"AUV enjoys an excellent reputation and a leadership position in the markets it serves, and its heritage as a co-operative institution, operated with the insight and perspective of the veterinarians who founded it, will remain important as we move forward together," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein.  "AUV will provide Henry Schein entry into the Dutch and Belgian animal health markets as the category leader.  This important addition will further our Pan-European strategy of providing animal health practitioners across the continent with the products and services needed to operate more efficient practices and provide high quality care.  By expanding our European animal health footprint, we will also have an opportunity to provide even greater value to our manufacturing partners while upholding the highest level of service to a growing base of customers in the European market for animal health products."

AUV Veterinary Services has approximately 200 employees with distribution centers in Cuijk, the Netherlands, and Beringen-Paal, Belgium.  The company also includes AUV Advies, a consulting business serving veterinary practices, and AUV Academie, an education offering for veterinarians and their staff. 

Mr. Bergman added, "We look forward to welcoming to Team Schein the colleagues at AUV, including Rens van Dobbenburgh, the Company's Co-CEO, who will become Co-Managing Director for the newly combined company, serving alongside interim Co-Managing Director Peter McCarthy, Henry Schein's President, European Animal Health."

Founded in 1969 by 100 veterinarians, the AUV Group comprises a distribution business and a pharmaceutical business, as well as a majority stake in a pet insurance business and the holding company.  Today's announcement involves only the company's distribution and related businesses, which serve more than 2,000 large and small animal veterinarians.  Distributed products include pharmaceuticals, pet foods, small equipment and disposables.  The AUV Group announced last week the sale of its pharmaceutical manufacturing business, Eurovet.

"Our companies are a good strategic business fit as well as a good cultural fit," said Mr. van Dobbenburgh.  "We are excited about the prospect of the AUV team joining a values-based company that is a strong market leader as well as a leader in corporate social responsibility."  For 2012, Henry Schein was ranked first overall in its industry in Fortune's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" -- with first-place rankings for social responsibility, global competitiveness, quality of management, quality of products and services, and long-term investment.

About Henry Schein's Animal Health Business

Henry Schein is the leading Pan-European distributor of animal health products and services, serving veterinary customers through its operations in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  With the addition of AUV, sales for the Company's global Animal Health business will be more than $2 billion annually.  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. (NASDAQ: HSIC) 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 nearly 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% since becoming a public company in 1995.  For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

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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 healthcare industry; implementation of healthcare 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. 

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SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.