McKesson Expands Its Empire

One of the major powers among pharmaceutical distributors made an acquisition late last week that should spur growth for the company in future quarters. McKesson (NYSE: MCK) announced that is was going to shell out $575 million to acquire Oncology Therapeutics Network.

McKesson shareholders should not expect an immediate shot in the arm for the stock price, but I expect benefits will come to those in the stock for the long run. Oncology Therapeutics is a privately held company that has $3 billion in annual sales, and it is a leading distributor of cancer drugs in the U.S. The transaction presents a huge upside for McKesson, given the fact that the company expects sales of cancer drugs to double over the next four years.

Management has remained very proactive in seeking new ways to grow and improve share value. McKesson acquired Per-Se Technologies in the beginning of the year for $1.1 billion, and the company recently announced the authorization of an additional $1 billion for share repurchases. The trend of new buybacks is also being seen at some of McKesson's competitors. The board of directors at Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) authorized a $2 billion share repurchase program in August. In the same month, AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC) agreed to a $250 million accelerated buyback of its shares from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Only time will reveal what the impact of McKesson's recent moves will be, but if I were a shareholder, I'd be happy to see that the company is being proactive.

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