Tag - Ge

On a midday Monday conference call, Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE: CMN) executives said the medical products maker will continue to grow through new product introductions and company acquisitions.

“We have an active pipeline of potential acquisitions and we’re committed to further enhancing our existing platforms,” CEO Scott Jones said on the call. “We’re focusing on some near-term smaller acquisitions and aggressively evaluating some larger deals for fiscal 2008.”

Cantel, which has a net debt of about $43.7 million, will use its borrowing capacity and banking support to purchase companies, Jones said. The Little Falls, N.J.-based company’s primary focus is water purification and healthcare disposables businesses that will expand market channels and product lines, Jones said. Cantel has $26 million left of revolving credit, but the company is still looking at deals larger than the revolver, he said.

Cantel acquired General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) water purification business in early April. Cantel’s largest segment is water purification after the GE addition boosted segment revenue by 50%, Jones said.

“By adding GE’s install base of 1,800 dialysis centers, we now work with over 70% of U.S. dialysis centers,” Jones said. “We have a growing national network with which to continue our expansion of the water business and other areas of health care, life sciences, and commercial and industrial segments.”

About 20,000 square feet of space in the company’s Minnesota facility is being converted into a medical equipment manufacturing facility in which to house the GE addition, Jones said. He said all manufacturing and former GE employees will be implemented by Cantel’s new fiscal year, which begins Aug. 1. Jones warned that analysts should not expect the recent performance of the GE acquisition - $1.9 million in sales and $0.3 million in operating earnings during the third quarter – to be routine.