SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), the world’s leading healthcare services company, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its McKesson Asia Pacific business to Medibank Private Ltd., the largest private health services and insurer in Australia. The acquisition is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2010, subject to customary conditions, including regulatory review in Australia.
McKesson Asia Pacific (MAP) is a leading provider of phone- and Web-based healthcare services, including telephone triage, health and wellness advice, chronic disease management and mental health services in Australia and New Zealand. Founded in 1995 and acquired by McKesson in 2000, MAP has grown to be a core part of the healthcare systems of those two countries. Medibank is an existing MAP customer and offers many complementary services to its customers.
The divestiture is the result of an unsolicited offer from Medibank, and McKesson will continue to have a presence in the Asia Pacific region through distribution of the company’s other product offerings and its sourcing operations. Under the arrangement, McKesson Asia Pacific will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Health Services Australia Pty Limited, which is a subsidiary of Medibank.
“This was a unique opportunity to join two highly successful partners,” said Emad Rizk, MD, President, McKesson Health Solutions. “McKesson Asia Pacific has delivered telephonic health management programs in Australia and New Zealand serving both the national and state governments of those countries over the past five years. We have also served Medibank’s members with chronic care services and are excited about Medibank’s potential to leverage the MAP business to provide even more of their members with access to high quality, convenient healthcare services.”
The transaction is a share purchase. At the close, Medibank will own 100 percent of the shares in McKesson Asia Pacific. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Risk Factors
Except for historical information contained in this press release, matters discussed may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “seeks”, “approximately”, “intends”, “plans”, “estimates” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. The discussion of financial trends, strategy, plans or intentions may also include forward-looking statements. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks and uncertainties; however, the most significant of these risks and uncertainties are described in the company’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports filed or furnished with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include, but are not limited to: material adverse resolution of pending legal proceedings; changes in the U.S. healthcare industry and regulatory environment; competition; the frequency or rate of branded drug price inflation and generic drug price deflation; substantial defaults in payment or a material reduction in purchases by, or loss of, a large customer; implementation delay, malfunction or failure of internal information systems; the adequacy of insurance to cover property loss or liability claims; the company’s failure to attract and retain customers for its software products and solutions due to integration and implementation challenges, or due to an inability to keep pace with technological advances; loss of third party licenses for technology incorporated into the company’s products and solutions; the company’s proprietary products and services may not be adequately protected, and its products and solutions may be found to infringe on the rights of others; failure of our technology products and solutions to conform to specifications; disaster or other event causing interruption of customer access to data residing in our service centers; increased costs or product delays required to comply with existing and changing regulations applicable to our businesses and products; changes in government regulations relating to sensitive personal information and to format and data content standards; the delay or extension of our sales or implementation cycles for external software products; changes in circumstances that could impair our goodwill or intangible assets; foreign currency fluctuations or disruptions to our foreign operations; new or revised tax legislation or challenges to our tax positions; the company’s ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate strategic acquisitions; continued volatility and disruption to the global capital and credit markets; failure to adequately prepare for and accurately assess the scope, duration or financial impact of public health issues on our operations, particularly the company’s current H1N1 flu vaccine distribution effort with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whether occurring in the United States or abroad; ability to timely complete McKesson’s divestiture of its Asia Pacific business, which requires the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals; and changes in accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other standard-setting bodies. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are first made. Except to the extent required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
About Medibank Private Ltd.
Medibank is Australia’s largest private health services and insurance group. Under brands that include Medibank Private and ahm we cover almost 3.4 million people, with significant membership in every state and territory. Medibank Private offers health insurance to all Australians, as well as catering for overseas students and visitors, and our Members’ Choice Network of health care providers extends across the country. We also offer a range of personal insurances, including travel insurance for both domestic and international travel, life insurance, and pet insurance.
Medibank is a leader in corporate health cover products and offers a suite of health and wellbeing programs. More broadly, we have increased our health management capability significantly over the past 12 months - through our mergers with HSA Group and ahm, and are now a leading provider of programs which improve the health status of our customers. Trading as “Medibank Health Solutions”, our Medical Services and Allied Health Services businesses deliver workplace health services such as health assessments, vaccinations, injury treatment and injury prevention and management and rehabilitation services to governments and corporate Australia. Our Travel Doctor business offers specialised travel health services, vaccinations and advice to government, corporate and private clients via clinics located across Australia.
Medibank services are provided through an Australia-wide distribution network, which consists of over 100 retail outlets, 50 clinics, a national network of customer care call centres and our various business websites - www.medibank.com.au, www.ahm.com.au, www.medibankhealth.com.au, www.traveldoctor.com.au
About McKesson
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. Over the course of its 177-year history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com.
CONTACT:
McKesson Corporation
Ana Schrank, 415-983-7153
Investors and Financial Media
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James Larkin, 415-983-8736
General and Business Media
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KEYWORDS: United States Asia Pacific North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Practice Management Health Hospitals Other Health Managed Care
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