NEW YORK (Thomson Financial) - (Recasts; adds details)
Sept 29 (Reuters) - Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc said it would
spin off its clinical and medical products businesses as a separate public
company, and reaffirmed its outlook for fiscal 2009.
The company also said Chief Executive Kerry Clark would continue through the
spin-off and then retire. Clark will be succeeded by George Barrett, the CEO of
Cardinal's Healthcare Supply Chain Services segment.
"This strategic decision will benefit Cardinal Health and the new
med-tech company by allowing each business to focus on its unique growth
strategies, capital needs and customer requirements," CEO Clark said in a
statement.
The spin off is expected to be completed by the middle of calendar 2009.
Cardinal named David Schlotterbeck as the CEO of the new spun-off
company. Schlotterbeck is currently the CEO of the Clinical and Medical Products
segment for Cardinal Health.
The new company, to be headquartered in San Diego, would offer products
for infusion, medication and supply dispensing, respiratory care, infection
prevention, medical diagnostics and surgical procedures.
The fiscal 2009 revenue from these businesses as a stand-alone entity,
excluding special items, is expected to be more than $4 billion, the company
said.
For the fiscal 2009, Cardinal reiterated its outlook of revenue growth of
6 percent to 7 percent and earnings from continuing operations of $3.80 to $3.95
a share, before special items.
The company also expects to continue its regular 14 cents quarterly
dividend until the completion of the spin-off.
Shares of the company closed at $49.84 Friday on the New York Stock
Exchange.
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan) Keywords:
CARDINALHEALTH/
Chuck Mikolajczak
cm
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