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By Tom von Gunden, PhD

Mergers and acquisitions. That phrase tends to make customers and prospective customers a bit — sometimes more than a bit — nervous. The standard chain of consequence assumed by most onlookers in the buyer community goes something like this: Mergers and acquisitions mean fewer companies crowding the market. A smaller crowd reduces competition. Reduced competition leads to higher prices. And so on.

Less common by far is the thought that mergers and acquisitions hold the promise of improved service. But, they do. And, that promise can be expressed in another phrase, one known for enticing buyers in the general consumer sector: one-stop shopping.

One particular series of acquisitions caught my attention in this regard. Over the last couple of years, parent corporation Cantel Medical Corp. has acquired and merged three separate companies to form Mar Cor Purification, which can actually offer one-stop service to customers looking for solutions for filtration, high purity water and disinfectant technologies. Site users and newsletter subscribers of Pharmaceutical Online should recognize at least one of the entities now subsumed within the Mar Cor Purification umbrella: Minntech Filtration Technologies Group. A provider of medical device reprocessing systems for renal dialysis and endoscopy as well as filtration systems and disinfectants, Minntech has, for some time now, maintained a supplier presence on Pharmaceutical Online. (Going forward, Minntech-branded products and information will be listed on our site under the Mar Cor Purification name.) Joining Minntech Filtration Technologies Group, which offers products such as FiberFlo® hollow fiber filters and Minncare® Cold Sterilant, in the new alignment are Biolab Equipment and Mar Cor Services. Biolab Equipment and Mar Cor Services are two water treatment companies that concentrate in providing filtration and water treatment systems and services. They both specialize in ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and high purity water storage and distribution systems. Biolab offers expertise in manufacturing equipment such as electro-deionization skids, to heat sanitizable units, to complex USP water purification systems. Mar Cor Services brings a large service presence that includes similar pure water technologies and support capabilities.

According to company executives I recently spoke with, Mar Cor Purification can now serve, for example, medical facilities, pharmaceutical development labs, and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants with process filtration products, surface and water disinfectant solutions, and high purity water systems "from the basement to the penthouse." Offering details were Andy Krakauer, COO and EVP of Cantel Medical Corp. and acting president of Mar Cor Purification; Dave Weatherill, VP of engineering and operations for Mar Cor Purification; and Mike Verguldi, senior marketing manager for Mar Cor's North America Water Systems Group. In explaining the driving rationale for the acquisitions and eventual merger, Krakauer was quick to point out that every move along the way was a logical extension of Cantel's overarching corporate mission. "We are all about infection prevention and control," Krakauer said. "So, buying and merging companies that deal with pure water, disinfectants, and filtration fit right into our long-standing goals for the market."

And, speaking of the market, the formation of Mar Cor Purification broadens not only the scope of offerings coming from a single provider, but also the geographic reach of that provider. As Weatherill, who cofounded the Canada-based Biolab in 1969, can attest, many of the ingredients that led to Mar Cor Purification's synergistic sweep had been percolating side-by-side for years. "For the dialysis equipment and water purification systems we provided at Biolab, we needed quality disinfectants and filters," said Weatherill. "So, we became Minntech's single largest customer in Canada and eventually its exclusive Canadian distributor." That partnership helped drive the U.S.-based Minntech's penetration of the Canadian market. A similar path to border-crossing market-penetration was already forged — in the opposite direction — between Biolab and its new brother in the Mar Cor Purification family, Mar Cor Services. Krakauer explained: "Another big home run for Cantel stemmed from Mar Cor Services' strong U.S. presence. We acquired Biolab and Mar Cor Services on the same day. So, we were immediately able to begin selling Biolab equipment into a U.S. customer base." Verguldi, who arrived from Mar Cor Services, confirmed the potential impact of the company name now listed on his business card. "At Mar Cor Services, our core targets and competencies were in medical and lab. Now, having the full line of Biolab and Minntech offerings available from Mar Cor Purification, we've bolstered our ability to serve the pharmaceutical, biotech, and commercial/industrial sectors," he said.

Of course, the excitement in the air during my conversation with Mar Cor won't mean much if it doesn't generate a similar response in the customer base. But, I'm not expecting the Mar Cor team to be disappointed. As I hinted at the outset of this commentary, I think there's a chance for significant interest in the one-stop shopping opportunity, particularly for those truly looking to fulfill high purity water and filtration needs "from the basement to the penthouse" of a medical or pharmaceutical facility. Nevertheless, from the Cantel parent corporation perspective, as represented by COO Krakauer, that degree of purchasing breadth in a customer, though attractive, isn't required. "We realize that a large pharmaceutical company looking to expand a process line or facility may come to us for only one piece of equipment. And, that's fine. We're happy to fulfill that particular need," Krakauer offered. "But, we also want customers to understand that we can now approach them from a corporate account level. Our combined sales and management team handles all of the products and services — from the filter side to the disinfectant side, from the smallest lab system to our largest pieces of equipment. So, if a customer has comprehensive needs and would prefer to deal with one supplier to address most, if not all, of them, we can be that one-stop shop."