Cardinal Wings It in Alaris Deal

Ransom, for one, found it odd that Cardinal would follow up just a few days later with news of a major acquisition.

"I'm surprised they're doing this deal in the teeth of an investigation" that's focused on acquisitions, he told TheStreet.com on Wednesday. "They can't put their life on hold ... but that's a fairly aggressive posture."

Still, Ransom fielded only reassurance when he raised the same concerns during Wednesday's conference call with management.

"We just view [the acquisition] as completely separate from this investigation," Walter said. "This is business as usual [at] Cardinal."

And the company's stock remained stable. Shares of Cardinal inched up 12 cents to $67.64 halfway through Wednesday's session.

Meanwhile, Alaris investors continued to cash in. The stock, which had already doubled over the past year, jumped another 18% to $22.23 on news of the pending acquisition.

Alaris CEO David Schlotterbeck, who will join Cardinal's senior management team, predicted even brighter days ahead for his company. He said Alaris has already had "great success competing against much larger companies ... on a global basis." But he now expects Alaris to grow its market share at double -- or even triple -- its planned clip under the Cardinal umbrella.

Already, the companies noted on Wednesday, Alaris is ranked as either the No. 1 or No. 2 supplier in most of the countries where it operates. Moreover, Alaris -- which derives 30% of its revenue from outside the U.S. -- should now pave the way for Cardinal to aggressively expand its international presence.

"Markets outside the U.S., especially Western Europe, represent a major growth opportunity for Cardinal Health," Cardinal President George Fotiades said. "We expect Alaris' experienced direct sales and service organization will become an important channel for many of our products in these regions."