Steris, a Mentor, Ohio-based provider of medical equipment and workflow-management software, will technically become a British company after it acquires Synergy Health in a $1.9 billion deal—the biggest purchase Steris has ever made.
However, the medical equipment maker's Mentor office will continue to serve as the company's operational headquarters after Steris and Synergy become one company, and its management team will remain in Mentor.
But the company being formed to house the combined business, which is being called New Steris, will be based in the United Kingdom, a move intended to lower Steris' corporate tax rate. Synergy investors will own 30% of the new company, and Steris will pay them 19.50 pounds ($31.35) for each share they own in the English sterilization services company.The deal would be big news for Steris, which also offers workflow-managment software, even if the company wasn't planning a so-called “inversion” — a practice that has drawn criticism from politicians and pundits.