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ICU Medical CEO Cites Issues Merging Smiths Medical

Q1 Sales From $1.9B Buy $65M Less Than Expected

Since ICU Medical Inc. on Jan. 6 closed on its $1.9 billion acquisition of the Smiths Medical business, the combination hasnโ€™t gone as smoothly as hoped.

While the San Clemente-based supplier of infusion therapy-related medical equipment (Nasdaq: ICUI) on May 9 reported the acquisition helped boost first-quarter sales 71% to $543.1 million, it also noted โ€œoperational challengesโ€ with the Smiths units, which makes syringe and ambulatory infusion devices, vascular access, and vital care products that are complementary to its own offerings.

โ€œItโ€™s been a hectic 70-or-so days since the last call as our legacy ICU businesses have continued to progress well and weโ€™ve been consumed with trying to improve the performance of the businesses that came with Smiths Medical,โ€ ICU Medical Chairman and Chief Executive Vivek Jain told analysts on a recent conference call.

The company is currently valued around $4.4 billion.

$2.4B Revenue Goal

Last September, ICU agreed to acquire Smiths Medical, a unit of London-based Smiths Group PLC, to help it scale globally. On a pro forma basis, ICU said the acquisition should boost its sales from $1.3 billion in 2021 to an estimated $2.4 billion this year.

The company said its legacy ICU businesses performed well last quarter, reporting $317 million in revenue, a 6% growth on a constant currency basis.

Its biggest unit, Infusion Consumables, grew 13% to $141 million.

The three Smiths units, however, contributed $214.9 million in sales, well below the $280 million to $300 million a quarter range of the past 10 years, Jain told analysts on a conference call.

Supply Chain Issues

Jain said there were three main reasons for the shortfall in sales:

โ€ข The deal closed on Jan. 6, so ICU couldnโ€™t capture about seven days of sales, or $25 million in revenue.

โ€ข โ€œPoor executionโ€ in the supply chain caused about $20 million to $30 million less than targeted in the first quarter as back orders rose throughout the quarter.

โ€œThe entire supply chain has been very weak,โ€ Jain said. โ€œWe find ourselves in this position because actions were not taken to solidify the Smiths supply chain as the volatility grew in 2021, and we walked in to find inventory down, production down and a weak fulfillment network.

โ€œIn plain English, the buffer stock got sold over the back half of last year. But we bought the business, we did the deal and itโ€™s our problem to fix it and it starts with a high level of intensity and understanding of the end-to-end business and it fundamentally starts with being a reliable manufacturer.

โ€œOur folks are now in charge of all these areas and bringing that focus. We have made significant progress since the last call on production output levels, particularly of the most critical and highest margin items,โ€ he said.

โ€ข Quality-related interruptions cost about $15 million.

โ€œWhen you change people and strategy so frequently itโ€™s hard to run a consistent quality process. It is public information that Smiths received a warning letter in 2021; then with all the twists and turns of what was happening with the company they were essentially frozen,โ€ Jain said.

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Peter J. Brennan
Peter J. Brennan
With four decades of experience in journalism, Peter J. Brennan has built a career that spans diverse news topics and global coverage. From reporting on wars, narcotics trafficking, and natural disasters to analyzing business and financial markets, Peterโ€™s work reflects a commitment to impactful storytelling. Peterโ€™s association with the Orange County Business Journal began in 1997, where he worked until 2000 before moving to Bloomberg News. During his 15 years at Bloomberg, his reporting often influenced financial markets, with headlines and articles moving the market caps of major companies by hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2017, Peter returned to the Orange County Business Journal as Financial Editor, bringing his heavy business industry expertise. Over the years, he advanced to Executive Editor and, in 2024, was named Editor-in-Chief. Peterโ€™s work has been featured in prestigious publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he has appeared on CNN, CBC, BBC, and Bloomberg TV. A Kiplinger Fellowship recipient at The Ohio State University, he leads the Business Journal with a dedication to uncovering stories that matter and shaping the local business community and beyond.
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