FTC Attempts to Block Steris Acquisition of Synergy Health

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to block the pending merger of Mentor, Ohio-based Steris Corp. and the United Kingdom-based Synergy Health plc.

Officials with Steris and Synergy today said they will contest the FTC’s attempted action, and they “welcome a full judicial review of the competitive effects of the combination.”  Under U.K. Listing Authority requirements, Synergy is required to announce this development even though the companies have not seen the FTC announcement or formal complaint.

“It is unfortunate that we have come to this point with a transaction as strategic and geographically complimentary as ours,” said Walt Rosebrough, president and CEO of Steris.  “We have worked diligently to address the FTC’s concerns and to avoid litigation, but we will now focus our efforts on prevailing in court.”

Richard Steeves, CEO of Synergy, commented: “We continue to maintain that the combination is firmly in the interests of all our and Steris’ stakeholders, notably including our respective customers. We are very disappointed by the FTC’s decision to impede this transaction and intend to vigorously challenge their claims in court. We have strong customer support for the transaction and we are confident that the combination of Steris and Synergy is pro-competitive and that the court will reject the FTC`s request for an injunction once the facts of the combination are fully understood.”

In order to ensure sufficient timing to contest the FTC`s action, the parties intend to extend the long-stop date for completion of the deal to Dec. 31. Extension of the long-stop date is subject to U.K. court approval.

When the deal was announced late last year, Steris had planned to wrap up its $1.9 billion purchase of Synergy Health by March 31.

Steris makes infection prevention products and services. Its portfolio includes sterilizers, surgical tables, detergents and laboratory testing services. Synergy Health is a provider of outsourced sterilization services for medical device manufacturers, hospitals and other industries.