Medical distributors Kreisers, MMS and Seneca Medical said today they signed an agreement to merge and form Concordance Healthcare solutions.
The companies said the merger is still subject to the companies’ shareholders, but they expect to close the deal in Q1 of 2016.
“If I was planning to merge Kreisers with a couple of established, superior regional distributors, Seneca and MMS would surely top the list. Kreisers’ dedication to servicing customers in our geographic area has taken a giant step forward. The synergy of combined operations run by an existing group of experienced employees will produce a win for the industry. A new alternative, long overdue, has now begun,” Kreisers CEO Dave Larson said in a prepared statement.
The combined company will have approximately 1,000 employees, 19 distro centers and $1.1 billion in annual sales, the companies said. MMS exec veep Tom Harris and Seneca CEO Roger Benz will serve as co-presidents of the new company.
“This is a great day, one that could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of all our employees. By mirroring the change in our industry, the combined company will now be better positioned to compete more effectively and profitably in the evolving healthcare market. We will be able to offer a larger array of services and products, be more competitive in the marketplace and have a much larger national presence,” Harris, Executive Vice President of MMS said in a press release. “The word concordance, meaning in agreement, in harmony and being of one mind could not be a more fitting name for this exciting new venture.”
The company’s senior advisory board will made up of former Kreisers CEO Dave Larson, MMS CEO Gary Reeve and Seneca founder William Shultz.
“It is easy to see the merit of this combination by recognizing not only ‘what it is’ but also by ‘what it is not’. It is not an acquisition. It is a merger. Three equally dedicated independent distributors, possessing like cultures and business approaches, sharing and improving as a combined entity. This is not a transaction that results in a loser being cannibalized and incorporated into a winner. It is about furthering the development of a customer-focused, agile, near national, independent distributor the likes of which the healthcare industry has not enjoyed for decades,” Benz said in prepared remarks.