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Vendors 28 www.h ME n E w S . COM / SEP t EM b E r 2017 / h ME n E w S Convatec adds distribution business READING, United Kingdom – ConvaTec, a global medical products company, has agreed to pay nearly $121 million for Woodbury Holdings, a distributor of incontinence and catheter supplies. The Floral Park, N.Y.-based Wood- bury offers a portfolio of more than 500 incontinence and 650 catheter products, and a wide array of nutritional, enteral feeding and vascular compression prod- ucts through subsidiaries Woodbury Health Products and Wilmington Medi- cal Supply. "ConvaTec and Woodbury share a common commitment to improving the lives of people with continence issues and a dedication to providing quality products, together with distinctive ser- vice and personal support," said Paul Moraviec, CEO of ConvaTec, in a press release. "We look forward to working with our Woodbury colleagues to bring our com- prehensive end-to-end suite of services to even more customers," he said. With this acquisition, ConvaTec Amer- icas will create a new distribution unit for catheter- and incontinence-related products, comprising the U.S. distribu- tion companies of 180 Medical, Symbius Medical, South Shore Medical Supply, Wilmington Medical Supply and Wood- bury Health Products. The deal is the latest in a recent string of manufacturers acquiring disposable medical supplies companies. In 2016, Coloplast paid $160 million for Com- fort Medical; and Domtar acquired Home Delivery Incontinence Supplies for $45 million. In October 2016, ConvaTec raised nearly $1.8 billion in an initial public offering, according to news reports. Con- vaTec is owned by private equity firms Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Part- ners, which acquired the company in 2008 for $4.1 billion. They hold 45.1% and 19.5% of shares, respectively. hme Bigger garage r ich g olden, C e O of g olden t echnologies, was recently hon- ored by Junior a chievement of Northeastern p ennsylvania with the e ntrepreneur of the y ear a ward at the annual b usiness Hall of Fame Dinner & a wards Ceremony. g olden launched the company in 1985 in a one-car garage. t oday, it encom- passes a large facility dedicated to manufacturing lift chairs. "I attri- bute the tremendous growth and success of g olden t echnologies to the continued hard work and determination of our employees, many of whom have been with us for a very long time," g olden said. "We're just in a bigger garage." Junior a chievement provides pro- grams to students teaching work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. INOGEN C O N t I N u e D F r O m pa g e 2 7 the market to convert, but when you string that success over several quarters, there's some substance to that." Sales in the domestic business-to- business channel increased 32.2% in the second quarter, exceeding expec- tations, Wilkinson said. Sales in the direct-to-consumer channel increased 33.3%, also exceeding expectations, he said. A small bump in the road expected in the third quarter, especially in the direct-to-consumer channel, will be a new CRM system that Inogen launched in June that will likely mean a tempo- rary hit to productivity. "We believe this system will help improve productivity of our sales, customer service and billing depart- ment, especially as we look into 2018," Wilkinson said. "Although our second quarter sales numbers were strong, we do expect to see a short-term decline in productivity in these departments during the first few months post imple- mentation, while we invest in training and our employees work through the learning curve in the new system." B u t t h a t hit will be m o re t h a n o f f s e t b y s a l e s r e p s "coming up the curve," s a i d C F O A l i B a u e r- lein. Inogen began train- ing its first class of sales reps in August for a new facility in Cleveland that will employ 240 at full bore. "You should be thinking about the second half stronger than the first, while the second quarter was great," Bauerlein told analysts. As a result, Inogen increased its guid- ance range for 2017 revenues to $239 million to $243 million, represent- ing year-over-year growth of 17.8% to 19.8%, compared to a previous guid- ance of $233 million to $239 million. It increased guidance for net income to $25 million to $27 million, representing 21.8% to 31.6% year-over-year growth, compared to previous guidance of $22 million to $24 million. hme IVC C O N t I N u e D F r O m pa g e 2 7 perishable mask sales in April and May, while the N20 and F20 were in limited availability." For the Americas, ResMed report- ed revenues of $350.2 million for the fourth quarter, an 8% increase over the same period in 2016. Excluding contri- butions from Brightree, revenues were $314 million, a 6% increase. ResMed reported net income of $101.6 million, a 22% increase. With "supply solidified" for the Air- Fit N20 nasal mask and F20 full-face mask, Farrell says ResMed's sales force now has "full con- fidence" that when it makes a sale, the company can fulfill its commitment. "We are now set to increase sales growth in masks for FY2018, as we unleash our sales force with these excellent products and full supply," he said. During the call, ResMed also gave an update on the LifeChoice Activox, a portable oxygen concentrator it inher- ited when it acquired Inova Technolo- gies in 2016. Robert Andrew Douglas, president and COO, characterized the product as a "work in progress, (but) we're making very good progress." "We've continued to work hard on the Activox, and we've actually made a number of improvements under the hood and we've seen a lot of improved performance," he said. "But we're not re-branding yet. We're still waiting for further improvements. (It) remains a very good product and our teams are promoting it appropriately to key cus- tomers. We're in it for the long haul, and we believe it's going to be a very good business." Overall, ResMed reported revenues of $556.7 million for the fourth quarter, a 7% increase over to the same period in 2016. Excluding contributions from Brightree, revenues were $520.5 mil- lion, a 6% increase. For all of fiscal year 2017, ResMed re p o r t e d re v e n u e s o f $ 2 . 1 b i l - lion, a 12% increase over 2016. Net income was $342.3 million, a 3% decrease. hme R ESMED C O N t I N u e D F r O m pa g e 2 7 Mick Farrell " y ou should be thinking about the second half stronger than the first, while the second quarter was great." needed after, according to lore, 51 acqui- sitions over 30 years, Monaghan says. "Now the engagement points with Invacare are more cohesive," he said. "You see all the benefits." Invacare plans a big comeback in the complex rehab market in the third quarter when it launches its TDX SP2 Power Wheelchair with LiNX Technol- ogy, which has a controller with the look and feel of a smart device. "We have to give people good reason to embrace us immediately," Monaghan said. "Part of that is, we are a clinically relevant technology company." While under the decree, Invacare could still sell complex power wheelchairs, but clinicians had to submit documen- tation* that their chairs were medically necessary for a particular condition and couldn't be addressed by another manu- facturer's product. Thankfully, some did, Monaghan said. "It allowed us enough opportunity to be in all the places we needed to be across the U.S. during this time," he said, "and because the forms required that the clinician attest that our product did something specific, it helped to reinforce our brand and products." Invacare must still undergo five years of audits. Its auditor will inspect the facilities every six months for the first year and once every 12 months for the four years thereafter, a temporary reminder of all the company has been through and all it has overcome. "It was a heart attack," Monaghan said of being under the consent decree. "It was a problem, but it made us take seri- ously strategic change." For now, though, the bulk of the con- sent decree is behind Invacare. And nothing pleased Monaghan more than to stand in the bed of a pick-up truck owned by Dean Childers, who heads up the company's North American opera- tions, in the parking lot at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 25, and announce by megaphone to hundreds of employees that they were fully back in business. "We're really proud of this achieve- ment," he said, "and thankful to pro- viders and customers for trusting us and giving us the room to do this, and giving us permission to earn back their business." hme MK B ATTERY C O N t I N u e D F r O m pa g e 2 7 USPSA on multiple levels. With events throughout the country and, in fact, across the globe, company management and employees have participated as vol- unteers in various locations, lending local support and gaining exposure for the sport. "Our entire management team has got- ten involved at tournaments, as well as at our exhibitions at Medtrade," Merdinger said. "Power soccer truly changes lives. For those who depend on power wheel- chairs, the opportunity of participating in a competitive sport is usually not even on their radar until they discover power soccer." And that impact rebounds to the com- pany, as well, Merdinger says. "MK's investment of time and resourc- es provides immense satisfaction that transcends our entire organization," he said. hme