Moneyline: Drive Medical seeks buyer, EZ-Access makes buy

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. - Drive Medical has hired an investment bank to explore and carry out a potential sale of the company, according to PE Hub.

Drive Medical, which is partly owned by the private equity firm Ferrer, Freeman & Co., has hired Robert W. Baird & Co. to explore a sale that could value the company at more than $1 billion with debt, PE Hub reported on June 1.

The company generated EBITDA of about $95 million in 12 months, it reported.

The sale could take the form of a majority or minority stake in the company, with the management team retaining a portion of the equity, PE Hub reported.

Drive Medical has completed more than half a dozen acquisitions since 2011, in moves that have rounded out its product lines and expanded its presence overseas. Most recently, it acquired DeVilbiss Healthcare.

EZ-Access buys Phillips Life Systems

ALGONA, Wash. - EZ-Access, a division of Homecare Products Inc., has made a second acquisition in its quest to become a one-stop shop for accessibility products.

The company, which has its roots in residential, portable, threshold and modular ramps, has bought Pickens, S.C.-based Phillips Lift Systems, adding a line of power toilet seat lifts to its offerings.

“This lift is the perfect fit to support our growing accessibility product development,” said Don Everard, CEO of EZ-Access.

EZ-Access will move manufacturing of the power toilet seat lifts to its facilities in Algona, Wash., and Morganfield, Ky. It will rebrand and sell the lifts under the EZ-Access name of Tilt. A release date will be announced soon.

In September 2015, EZ-Access bought Mesa, Ariz.-based Worldwide Mobility, a manufacturer of powered vehicle lifts. It rebranded the lift as the Haulaway.