Steris Corp to buy diagnostics company US Endoscopy for $270 million

Steris Corp, a medical device maker, will buy privately held diagnostics company US Endoscopy Group Inc for $270 million in cash in order to expand in the gastrointestinal endoscopy market.

Founded in 1991, Mentor, Ohio-based US Endoscopy is a leader in the design, manufacture and sale of therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices and support accessories used in the gastrointestinal endoscopy markets worldwide.

It had 2011 revenues of about $70 million and operating income of approximately $14 million.

Steris said the acquisition will significantly expand its presence in the GI market and gain direct access to the procedural spaces in the GI market with a franchise of proprietary, single-use consumable medical devices.

Although Steris was founded as Innovative Medical Technologies in 1985 and renamed as Steris Corp in 1987, its history dates back to 1894 with the founding of American Sterilizer Company, a long-time global leading innovator of sterilization products.

Steris is the world's pre-eminent infection prevention, decontamination, and surgical and critical care company, with a long list of first-to-market products and industry-leading service innovations and thousands of customers in more than 60 countries.

Through a series of acquisitions and continual innovation of new products, Steris holds one of the broadest portfolios of products in the industry.