Owens & Minor Aborts Merger Deal with Rotech, Citing Regulatory Struggles

Owens & Minor and Rotech gave mutually agreed to terminate their previously announced acquisition.

Per the merger agreement, Owens & Minor paid $80 million to Rotech and will also redeem the $1 billion of notes issued in April 2025, which include a mandatory redemption provision. The company will also terminate the incremental term loan commitments and senior unsecured bridge loan commitments provided by its lenders.

Owens & Minor president and CEO cited regulatory struggles as the reason for the deal’s termination. The transaction was first announced in July 2024.

“For many months, our teammates, along with the Rotech team, have worked tirelessly in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission to close this transaction, and while we believe there would have been ample benefits to patients, payors, and providers by adding Rotech to our Patient Direct business, the path to obtain regulatory clearance for this merger proved unviable in terms of time, expense, and opportunity,” Pesicka told the press.

He said the company is confident in its strategy and will keep focusing efforts on growing its Patient Direct business, while staying committed to strengthening its balance sheet through use of improved cash flow generation for deleveraging.

The home-based care market is a dynamic, growing market, and we are extremely well positioned to help those with chronic conditions get the care and service they need and deserve,” Pesicka said. “Also, we continue to work with a number of interested parties around the potential sale of our Products and Healthcare Services business, and, in the meantime, we will continue to actively work to strengthen that business and tap into its significant upside.”

“I want to thank our teammates, partners and everyone at Rotech for their effort and cooperation over the last several months, and we look forward to a bright future with many years of profitable growth,” Pesicka concluded.