McKesson, San Francisco, has agreed to purchase Per-Se Technologies, Alpharetta, Ga., in a deal worth $1.8 billion. The purchase, expected to close in the first quarter of 2007 if it meets regulatory approval, extends McKesson's reach in the pharmacy software systems arena as well as establishing a strong presence in the small physician-office practice-management software systems market, where Per-Se obtained a position through its August 2005 acquisition of the physician, hospital and retail pharmacy business of NDC Health for a reported $644 million.
McKesson is one of the three largest pharmaceutical wholesalers in the U.S., with revenue of nearly $22.4 billion in its fiscal year second quarter ended Sept. 30.
Of the three operating divisions of McKesson, pharmaceuticals solutions, with wholesale sales and services to customers in the U.S. and Canada, is by far its largest, with nearly $21.4 billion, or 95 percent of revenue, and 63 percent of gross profit, with a $650 million gross profit and a gross profit margin of just over 3 percent, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In comparison, its provider technologies division, which accounts for its IT offerings to providers, is its most profitable, in terms of margins. The provider technology division contributed just 2 percent of McKesson’s second-quarter revenue at $440 million, but 20 percent of its gross profit, at $208 million, with a gross profit margin of 47 percent.
Medical surgical solutions, with 3 percent of revenue at $580 million, posted 16 percent of its gross profits for the quarter at $166 million, with a gross profit margin of just under 29 percent.