Pall Corp. selling some blood transfusion assets

[April 30, 2012]  PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (AP) -- Filtration equipment manufacturer Pall Corp. has agreed to sell certain operations and equipment used in blood transfusions to health care company Haemonetics Corp. for about $550 million.

The deal announced Sunday calls for Haemonetics to receive blood collection, filtration and processing systems and equipment, along with manufacturing facilities in California, Mexico and Italy from Pall.

Some of Pall's assets in Puerto Rico are also included. About 1,300 Pall employees will be transferred to Haemonetics as part of the deal.

Pall President and CEO Larry Kingsley said the asset sales will enhance the company's ability to grow in the long term.

Haemonetics, based in Braintree, Mass., said the acquisition will help boost its ability to serve the $1.2 billion global manual whole blood collection market.

"The addition of Pall's whole blood collection and filtration products accelerates Haemonetics' entry into the whole blood collection market and provides resources to facilitate the development of new products in a competitive and highly regulated market," Brian Concannon, Haemonetics' president and CEO, said in a statement.

Under the terms of the deal, Haemonetics will pay $536 million of the purchase price once the transaction closes. It will pay the remaining $15 million by 2016, when Pall is scheduled to deliver certain manufacturing assets of the filter media business to Haemonetics. Until then, Pall will manage the assets under a supply agreement.

Haemonetics plans to finance the acquisition with $475 million in new loans, plus $61 million in cash.

The deal is expected to close at the start of Pall's 2013 fiscal year. The current fiscal year ends July 30.

Pall expects to record an after-tax gain of $230 million to $240 million, or $1.95 a share to $2.04 a share on the sale.

Haemonetics expects the deal for Pall's assets and a separate acquisition to have at least a neutral impact on its adjusted earnings in fiscal 2013 and to add to earnings in fiscal 2014 and beyond.

The company reported on Sunday that its profit fell 15 percent in its fiscal fourth-quarter, as operating expenses rose nearly 26 percent.

Haemonetics said net income was $17.8 million, or 69 cents a share, for the three months ended March 31. That compares to net income of $21 million, or 81 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Excluding the impact of costs related to transactions, restructuring and other special items, earnings in the latest quarter amounted to 80 cents a share, the company said.

That's still shy of the 83 cents a share adjusted profit predicted, on average, by Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.

The company's revenue grew nearly 10 percent to $186.7 million from $170 million. That also fell short of the $183.1 million analysts expected.

For fiscal 2012, Haemonetics' earnings fell 16 percent to $66.9 million, or $2.59 a share. Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $727.8 million.

The company anticipates fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings per share of $3.30 to $3.40 -- below the $3.51 adjusted earnings per share analysts forecast.

Shares in Haemonetics ended regular trading up 85 cents at $69.13 on Friday. Pall shares rose 99 cents to $60.44.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.