Owens & Minor Rises on $375M Sale, Rebrands to Accendra Health
The healthcare firm is pivoting to become a pure-play home care provider, but faces cautious analyst sentiment after an initial stock surge.
Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE: OMI) has completed a significant corporate overhaul, finalizing the $375 million sale of its Products & Healthcare Services division and rebranding itself as Accendra Health, Inc. in a strategic pivot toward the high-growth home healthcare market.
Shares of the company gained just over 2% in afternoon trading on the news, a modest reaction compared to the explosive 22.5% rally seen when the deal was first announced in October. The stock currently trades near its 52-week low, suggesting that while investors initially cheered the strategic shift, they have since adopted a more cautious, wait-and-see approach.
The transaction, finalized with private equity firm Platinum Equity, provides a substantial cash infusion for the company, which has a market capitalization of approximately $214 million. In a move to signify its new direction, the company will begin trading under the new ticker symbol "ACH" on the New York Stock Exchange starting January 2, 2026, according to company announcements.
This divestiture marks a definitive exit from the lower-margin medical products distribution business that has long defined Owens & Minor. The new entity, Accendra Health, will sharpen its focus on its remaining, higher-margin brands: Apria, a major provider of home respiratory therapies and sleep apnea equipment, and Byram Healthcare, a distributor of medical supplies for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes.
The strategic rationale is to create a more streamlined business concentrated on the burgeoning home-based care sector. The company has grappled with financial headwinds, posting negative earnings per share and profit margins over the past year. The $375 million in proceeds is expected to be used to strengthen the balance sheet and pay down debt.
However, the market's initial optimism has been tempered by recent analyst commentary. While the move is seen as strategically sound for the long term, Wall Street has raised concerns about near-term challenges. In a sign of this caution, Moody's Ratings recently downgraded the company's Corporate Family Rating to B2 from Ba3. UBS also issued a downgrade, contributing to a consensus "Hold" rating from analysts, as reported by MarketBeat.
Despite the downgrades, which reflect potential dis-synergies and contract-related issues following the separation, the analyst community largely projects a path back to financial health. Projections point to a return to profitability for Accendra Health in the coming year, with a consensus forecasted earnings per share of approximately $1.05.
By shedding its legacy distribution arm, Owens & Minor is making a decisive bet on the secular shift of healthcare from the hospital to the home. The transformation into Accendra Health creates a pure-play company positioned to capitalize on this trend, but it must first navigate a period of significant operational transition and prove to investors and analysts that its leaner model can deliver on its promise of higher growth and profitability.