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Cardinal Health (CAH), CD&R to Jointly Invest in naviHealth

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Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH - Free Report) and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) recently announced a joint investment plan in naviHealth. Notably, 71% of Tennessee-based naviHealth was acquired by Cardinal Health in 2015 for a deal value of $290 million. The company had a goal of acquiring the entire business after four years.

naviHealth currently serves more than two million insured members and manages care transitions for approximately 800 acute hospitals and 11,000 post-acute care facilities across the United States. Meanwhile, CD&R is one of the oldest private equity firms in the world, specializing in buyouts and growth capital financings.

Post the above announcement, shares of Cardinal Health inched up 0.7% to $54.62 at close. However, the stock has declined 12.5% against the industry’s increase of 5.9% in the past six months.

 

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Coming back to the news, the CD&R-managed funds will acquire approximately a 55% ownership stake in naviHealth while Cardinal Health will retain roughly 45% interest in the business. Additionally, Cardinal Health will reserve a call right to reacquire the business. The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2018.

The latest strategic move will enable the Ohio-based distributor of healthcare services to deliver improved post-acute care across the United States.

Market Prospects

Per Frost & Sullivan, the post-acute healthcare industry can expect a surge of approximately $40 billion in revenues in 2018. This upside is attributable to a shift of medically complex patients toward post-acute care settings.

Hence, it can be concluded that Cardinal Health’s decision has been timely and strategic.

Cardinal Health’s Acute Patient Solutions

Cardinal Health offers a broad range of acute patient care solutions.

Previously-acquired naviHealth coordinates care in the acute and post-acute setting apart from enabling providers to customize patient-specific care plans. The company also analyzes data and discovers patterns to optimize workflows.

Furthermore, Cardinal Health’s Outpatient Pharmacy Solutions enable healthcare providers to boost patient population health management. It plays a critical role in continuing patient care beyond discharge from hospitals to homes.

The company has also launched a line of Cardinal Health Hospital Quality at Home consumer products. This allows patients and caregivers to buy the same products used in the hospital to support continuity of care. The list includes products related to bath safety and daily living aids.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Abiomed, Inc. , Stryker Corporation (SYK - Free Report) and Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG - Free Report) .

Abiomed has a projected long-term earnings growth rate of 27%. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stryker has a projected long-term earnings growth rate of 9.7%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Intuitive Surgical has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12.1% and a Zacks Rank of 1.

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