Cardinal Health divests healthcare marketing services

Cardinal Health has finalised the sale of its healthcare marketing services (HMS) unit to Platinum Equity. This transaction, first announced last November, was completed on Friday. Details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

HMS, which generated nearly $200 million (101.34 million pounds) revenue in 2005, is a provider of sales and marketing communications services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. HMS has over 700 employees.

Platinum Equity will now undergo a process of separating these services from Cardinal Health and establish it as a renamed standalone company. It reports that details regarding the brand image and name of this company will be released as this process develops.

Matt Young, principle lead on the transaction team of Platinum Equity, said: “HMS delivers vital services in a rapidly growing market and has strong relationships with major pharmaceutical and biotech companies.”

He added that these relationships provide a robust basis for the future growth of the business unit.

In November 2006, Cardinal Health announced that it was planning to sell its pharmaceutical technologies and services business segment for $1.8 billion.

The company reported that the purpose of this divestment was to better focus its resources and abilities on providing services to hospitals, pharmacies and other healthcare providers.