Bergen Buys Distributor to Expand Sales

Bergen Brunswig Corp., the nation’s third-largest drug wholesaler, said Thursday it has agreed to buy closely held Ransdell Surgical Inc. for an undisclosed price to expand its sales of medical and surgical products.

Like other major drug wholesalers, Orange-based Bergen is expanding through small acquisitions after a federal judge in August blocked two big mergers that would have combined the four largest drug wholesalers into two. Cardinal Health Inc., the second largest wholesaler, was to purchase Bergen Brunswig, and McKesson Corp., the largest, was to acquire AmeriSource Health Corp.

Ransdell, based in Louisville, Ky., distributes products in Kentucky and southern Indiana. It had revenue of $58 million last year. Bergen also agreed to buy Ransdell’s affiliate, Choice Systems Inc., a developer of inventory computer software.

The acquisitions will add about 8% to the revenue of Bergen Brunswig’s medical and surgical products division, said Kristi Thiese, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates.

“You’ll see acquisitions like this in the medical/surgical area as well as in the pharmaceutical distribution division,” Thiese said. “They aren’t big on the revenue side, but they are higher-margin businesses that make them more valuable to manufacturers and customers.”

Bergen Brunswig had total revenue of $11.7 billion last year.

Ransdell’s management will join Bergen Brunswig. Choice Systems, which was spun off from Ransdell in 1989, will remain an independent company.

Bergen Brunswig’s stock closed Thursday at $44.88 a share, off 69 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.