AmerisourceBergen, which of course is one of the biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers, is delving further into the New York market by agreeing to pay $235 million in cash for Bellco Health, a privately held distributor based on Long Island that had $2 billion in revenue last year.

The crowded New York metro market, where numerous mom-and-pop pharmacies stubbornly fend off encroaching drug-store chains, have long been serviced by a patchwork group of small, private wholesalers. But that began to change a few years ago as the chains grew larger and, coincidentally, smaller wholesalers attracted more scrutiny in the wake of the counterfeit Lipitor scandal that raised numerous questions about the security of the distribution chain.

Amerisource isn’t the only big wholesaler jumping into New York these days. HD Smith, which is based in Illinois, last year opened a large wholesale facility in New Jersey to service the region. But there’s more to this acquistion than pharmacies. As Merrrill Lynch’s Tom Gallucci points out in an investor note this afternoon, Amerisource also gets Bellco’s dialysis biz, which generates about half of its revenues, and a generics telemarketing operation.

Further reading…
Bellco site;
AmerisourceBergen statement;[tags]AmerisourceBergen, Bellco Health[/tags]