California firm terminates $875M acquisition of Cook Medical unit, FTC says

A California company has terminated its $875 million acquisition of Cook Medical’s reproductive health care business, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday.

The FTC statement did not say when or why the deal was called off. The planned acquisition by CooperCompanies, based in the San Francisco area, had been announced in February.  At the time, Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Medical and Cook Group, said the deal would help Cook invest in growth and new technology.

In an email to IBJ on Tuesday, Cook Medical confirmed that the deal was called off but did not provide further comment.

CooperCompanies told IBJ in an email that it had no comment on the subject.

Cook Group, the parent of Cook Medical, was founded in 1963 and is one of Indiana’s largest privately owned companies, with more than 10,000 employees.

The FTC, a federal agency that enforces antitrust laws and promotes consumer protection, called the termination a “win” for patients. But it did not say it was planning to formally challenge the deal or provide details on how the combined operations might be anti-competitive.

“Following a full-phase investigation by FTC staff, CooperCompanies’s decision to abandon this proposed acquisition ensures that critical reproductive health markets remain competitive,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said in written remarks.

She continued: “The FTC is committed to protecting patients from higher costs and preserving the incentive to innovate. The deal termination protects competition and is a win for patients.”

Cook’s reproductive health unit includes products for obstetrics and gynecology, in vitro fertilization and assisted reproductive technology. It had revenue last year of $158 million, representing about 7% of Cook Medical’s total annual revenue of about $2.2 billion.

The unit has operations in Spencer, Indiana; Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; and Brisbane, Australia. The FTC statement thanked its counterpart agencies in Australia and the United Kingdom.

CooperCompanies has 12,000 employees and annual revenue of $2.9 billion.