3M to Buy Arizant in Third Acquisition in a Month
Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- George Buckley, chief executive officer of 3M Co., talks about his company's growth strategy in Cernobbio, Italy. Buckley, speaking with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack," also discusses his company's hiring practices and U.S. fiscal policy. (Source: Bloomberg)
3M Co. agreed to acquire Arizant Inc., a maker of blankets used to protect hospital patients against hypothermia, for $810 million to expand its infection- prevention offerings, marking its third acquisition in a month.
The purchase of Arizant will decrease earnings by 3 cents a share in the first 12 months after the deal is completed, 3M said today in a statement. Arizant, also the maker of gowns to keep patients warm on the operating table, will add to the St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M’s health-care unit, its second biggest after the industrial and transportation division.
“It definitely fits into that healthcare sector, which is an area of growth for the company,” said Jeff Windau, an analyst with Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis. He has a “buy” rating on the stock.
3M, whose products range from Post-It notes to flu tests and sanding tools, still sees one or two potential acquisition targets among industrial companies, Chief Executive Officer George Buckley said in a Bloomberg Television interview last week. He told the Financial Times this month that 3M may make two purchases still this year. The company plans to spend about $2 billion on acquisitions in 2010.
3M advanced 70 cents to $83.45 at 11:15 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had risen less than 1 percent this year before today.
Cogent, Attenti
The company had $3 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 30. At the end of August, 3M said it would buy Cogent Inc., a maker of fingerprint-identification devices, for $943 million and Attenti Holdings SA, a maker of electronic tracking tools including ankle bracelets, for $230 million.
3M has announced 67 acquisitions since 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The purchase of Cuno Inc., a maker of water-filtration devices, for about $1.3 billion in 2005 was the biggest, followed by Aearo Technologies, a maker of ear plugs and safety goggles, for $1.2 billion in 2007.
Arizant has 375 employees in the U.S., Europe and Japan and will probably have sales of about $200 million this year, 3M said. 3M is buying Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Arizant from Court Square Capital, a private-equity firm based in New York.
To contact the reporter on this story: Will Daley in New York at wdaley2@bloomberg.net
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