VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 6, 2012--
AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE: ABC) today announced that it has
signed a definitive agreement to purchase World Courier Group, Inc., a
privately held leading global specialty transportation and logistics
provider for the biopharmaceutical industry, for $520 million in cash.
The purchase price is subject to a customary working capital adjustment.
The acquisition is expected to be neutral to the Company’s fiscal year
2012 earnings, and $0.06 to $0.10 accretive in fiscal 2013. The
transaction is subject to certain regulatory reviews and other customary
closing conditions, and is expected to close in the third quarter of
fiscal 2012, which ends June 30, 2012.
World Courier, the premier global specialty provider of transportation,
storage and distribution services for multinational biopharmaceutical
clinical trials in addition to other end markets, will become a new
operating segment within AmerisourceBergen. “The acquisition of World
Courier adds a new premium specialty service to our existing portfolio
of market leading pharmaceutical manufacturer services,” said Steven H.
Collis, AmerisourceBergen President and Chief Executive Officer. “The
addition of World Courier’s unique capabilities and expertise to our
existing commercialization services further strengthens our offerings to
global pharmaceutical manufacturers, and provides an established
platform for the introduction of our specialty services outside North
America.”
World Courier’s President, Wayne B. Heyland, will continue on in this
position, reporting directly to Collis. “We are very pleased to bring
our global expertise and decades of experience serving international
biopharmaceutical manufacturers and contract research organizations
(CROs) to AmerisourceBergen,” said Heyland. “Our shared values and
similar cultures will ensure the smooth integration of our premium
services, which will help both of our organizations take advantage of
the tremendous growth opportunities that lie ahead, particularly in
international markets. We are very excited to become an integral part of
the largest specialty distribution and services provider in the world.”
World Courier’s customized solutions and customer-centric service model
complements and meaningfully expands AmerisourceBergen’s existing
manufacturer services and commercialization support services. World
Courier’s biopharmaceutical clinical trials logistics, investigational
drug storage and distribution, and other specialty logistics businesses
utilize a company-owned, fully integrated GxP-compliant global network
and dedicated, locally based associates to help drive exceptional
reliability and customer service in both well-established and emerging
markets. World Courier’s annual revenues are expected to be
approximately $500 million in calendar year 2012. It has over 137
offices, 13 GMP-compliant storage depots, and 2,500 employees in 52
countries.
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical services
companies serving the United States, Canada and selected global markets.
Servicing both healthcare providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers in
the pharmaceutical supply channel, the Company provides drug
distribution and related services designed to reduce costs and improve
patient outcomes. AmerisourceBergen's service solutions range from
pharmacy automation and pharmaceutical packaging to reimbursement and
pharmaceutical consulting services. With more than $80 billion in annual
revenue, AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, and
employs approximately 11,000 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #27 on
the Fortune 500 list. For more information, go to www.amerisourcebergen.com.
About World Courier
Founded in 1969 by James R. Berger and headquartered in Stamford,
Connecticut, World Courier is the largest and most experienced specialty
logistics company with a network of 137 wholly-owned ISO 9001-certified
offices in 52 countries. It also operates an extensive integrated
company-owned network of GMP-compliant investigational drug storage
facilities in 13 developing and strategic locations. With a fully
GxP-compliant transport and supply chain system in place network-wide,
World Courier meets the most demanding industry and regulatory
requirements for managing the time- and temperature-sensitive
consignments of regulated and other industries. For more information, go
to www.worldcourier.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements contained in this press release are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. These statements are based on management's current expectations
and are subject to uncertainty and change in circumstances. Among the
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected, anticipated or implied are the following: changes in
pharmaceutical market growth rates; the loss of one or more key customer
or supplier relationships; changes in customer mix; customer
delinquencies, defaults or insolvencies; supplier defaults or
insolvencies; changes in pharmaceutical manufacturers' pricing and
distribution policies or practices; adverse resolution of any contract
or other dispute with customers or suppliers; federal and state
government enforcement initiatives to detect and prevent suspicious
orders of controlled substances and the diversion of controlled
substances; qui tam litigation for alleged violations of fraud
and abuse laws and regulations and/or any other laws and regulations
governing the marketing, sale and purchase of pharmaceutical products or
services and any related litigation, including shareholder derivative
lawsuits; changes in federal and state legislation or regulatory action
affecting pharmaceutical product pricing or reimbursement policies,
including under Medicaid and Medicare; changes in regulatory or clinical
medical guidelines and/or labeling for the pharmaceutical products we
distribute, including certain anemia products; price inflation in
branded pharmaceuticals and price deflation in generics; greater or less
than anticipated benefit from launches of the generic versions of
previously patented pharmaceutical products; significant breakdown or
interruption of our information technology systems; our inability to
continue to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to
handle business and financial processes and transactions (including
processes and transactions relating to our customers and suppliers) of
AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation operations and our corporate
functions as intended without functional problems, unanticipated delays
and/or cost overruns; success of integration, restructuring or systems
initiatives; interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations; economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory
developments in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside of the
United States, including changes and/or potential changes in Canadian
provincial legislation affecting pharmaceutical product pricing or
service fees or regulatory action by provincial authorities in Canada to
lower pharmaceutical product pricing and service fees; the impact of
divestitures or the acquisition of businesses that do not perform as we
expect or that are difficult for us to integrate or control; our
inability to successfully complete any other transaction that we may
wish to pursue from time to time; changes in tax laws or legislative
initiatives that could adversely affect our tax positions and/or our tax
liabilities or adverse resolution of challenges to our tax positions;
increased costs of maintaining, or reductions in our ability to
maintain, adequate liquidity and financing sources; volatility and
deterioration of the capital and credit markets; and other economic,
business, competitive, legal, tax, regulatory and/or operational factors
affecting our business generally. Certain additional factors that
management believes could cause actual outcomes and results to differ
materially from those described in forward-looking statements are set
forth (i) in Item 1A (Risk Factors) in the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 and elsewhere in
that report and (ii) in other reports filed by the Company pursuant to
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Source: AmerisourceBergen Corporation
AmerisourceBergen Corporation
Barbara Brungess,
610-727-7199
bbrungess@amerisourcebergen.com