3M Co, the $23-billion turnover company that is known for making Post-it sticker pads, is making it third acquisition in less than a month by proposing to buy Arizant, a maker of patient warming products to prevent hypothermia during surgery, for $810 million in cash.

Minnesota-based Arizant, which is majority-owned by Court Square Capital, a private equity firm based in New York, is a maker of surgical products that is designed to control patient temperature to prevent hypothermia during surgery.

Its products include Bair Hugger therapy, the Bair Paws patient adjustable warming system, and the Ranger blood and fluid warming systems.

Arizant created the category of forced-air warming, which is the preferred method of warming surgical patients in the US. The global market for patient warming is approximately $1 billion, with the forced-air warming category expected to grow at about 10 per cent annually.

Arizant products help maintain normal body temperature, known as normothermia, in more than 20 million surgical patients annually, which help prevent surgical site infections and other serious complications associated with surgical hypothermia, said 3M in a statement.

Arizant employs 375 people in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium and Japan. Sales for 2010 are expected to be approximately $200 million.

''Patient warming is a highly strategic adjacency for our business and integral to infection prevention,'' said Debra Rectenwald, president and general manager, 3M Infection Prevention Division.
 
Rectenwald added, ''In addition to Arizant's market-leading products, its rich intellectual property portfolio and solid technology platforms expand 3M's infection prevention offerings and will help to drive growth internationally, as well as provide a platform of innovative wound care technologies.''

3M's infection prevention business helps hospitals reduce healthcare-associated infections. Its wide variety of products and systems for controlling the risk of infection includes applications for sterilization and monitoring, hand hygiene, perioperative preps, and surgical drapes.

Arizant's product development and commercialisation capabilities will draw on the strength of 3M's global resources in healthcare and its technology expertise to provide solutions that help prevent perioperative hypothermia.

3M, also based in Minnesota, employs 75,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries.

3M produces thousands of innovative products that include Post-it notes, Scotch tapes and adhesives stick, Scotch-Brite cleaning products, Scotchgard protective products to protect fabrics and surfaces as well as Vikuiti optical films that make LCD screens brighter and more energy efficient.

This is the company's third proposed acquisition in less than a month. On 30 August, it entered into a deal to acquire Cogent Inc, a manufacturer of fingerprint-identification systems, in a deal valued at $943 million, (See: 3M to acquire fingerprint-identification company Cogent in a $943 million deal) and a day later agreed to acquire Israel's Attenti Holdings SA from an investor group led by private-equity firm Francisco Partners for $230 million in cash. (See: 3M to acquire remote monitoring technology firm Attenti Holdings for $230 million)