Ganim Medical LLC is acquiring the business of D.R.E. Medical Group Inc. (DRE), an internationally recognized seller of new and refurbished medical equipment to the human and veterinary healthcare channels, from Avante Health Solutions.
DRE has an equipment warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, just 200 miles southwest from Ganim's 100,000 square foot equipment warehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
“This strategic move further expands our market share and premier position as a top-tier source for high quality and affordable medical equipment for all healthcare facilities and service providers," said Dave Ganim, CEO of Ganim Medical, in a statement. "This acquisition underscores our commitment to delivering innovative solutions for our customers and driving industry growth. Adding DRE Medical to our growing portfolio of medical equipment companies creates dynamic synergies, operational efficiencies and the ability to further meet the needs of all our customers.”
Avante Health Solutions and its affiliates, (under the banner of Jordan Health Products)
petitioned for bankruptcy on October 8 under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The move, according to a statement from Avante, allowed the company to move forward with a sale to private equity firm Staple Street Capital, which has approximately $900 million under management.
In 2019, Ganim Medical was sold to Centurion Service Group, which was in turn acquired by TriMedX in late 2020. Ganim reacquired the rights to his company from TriMedX in late 2022.
HealthCare Business News reached out to Dave Ganim to learn more about the acquisition, his background in the industry, and his views on the future of medical equipment sales.
HCB News: Why was DRE Medical the right pick to expand Ganim Medical?
Dave Ganim: I have always admired DRE as a company. In my opinion, no one in our industry has done a better job of creating a line of private label products better than DRE under Mike Spencer's leadership.
Another area DRE has excelled in is understanding digital marketing and using it to drive business to their website. Ganim Medical is more of a “boots on the street” sales organization. It is a company of hunters, looking for opportunities and really partnering with healthcare facilities to help solve their problems. It is what Ganim does best.
The synergies between these vastly different organizations is what, I believe, will make us a premier partner for facilities nationwide. Each company's individual strengths, when combined, will offer a menu of services to our customers they have not yet experienced.
HCB News: Can you tell us a bit about your equipment inventory, and what modalities you are concentrating on? Also, what regions are you serving?
DG: DRE is a worldwide powerhouse in both human and veterinary health. The dedicated sales team is just awesome. Many have been with DRE for over 15 years. The first day I walked into the warehouse in Louisville, I was reinvigorated by the vast inventory of new products in boxes, on pallets, and ready to ship. I said to myself, “I can’t wait to get my hands on this inventory.”
A few days later, I invited the leadership team from DRE to Columbus to walk our new 100,000-square-foot facility. Their eyes lit up as they entered the main warehouse. Nothing in boxes, nothing new, just a massive inventory of high-quality, preowned equipment and instrumentation. They said, "We can’t wait to get our hands on this inventory to sell.” Although the companies will operate autonomously, they will work closely together to make each other better.
DRE has survived a tough transition period as of late. The team has been resilient. When it was announced that Avante was filing for bankruptcy our competitors planned to take full advantage of the wounded company. I don’t blame them. It was a great opportunity to acquire market share from an industry leader by homing in on their vendors and customers. That is business. The fact is, they were telling the truth as they knew it to DRE’s customers and vendors. The truth changed the day I acquired DRE. Everything that had been spread throughout the industry about this company was no longer true. It has caused us some short term challenges but our worldwide vendors and customers have been awesome. They have rallied behind us and have committed to continuing the great relationships we've enjoyed for decades.
We have a lot of work to do. This reorganization has caused a few setbacks but this team is ready for the challenge.
HCB News: Can you walk us through the timeline of events for Ganim Medical and clarify whether or not the current iteration is a new company or the same company?
DG: I started Ganim Medical in 1994 after buying my partners out of a company we started my senior year at Ohio State University. We started as a rental company for laparoscopic equipment. We grew to have the largest inventory of preowned equipment in the Midwest. We serve hospitals, surgery centers and clinics nationwide with an emphasis on turnkey solutions for equipment planners and physician-owned surgery centers. I am proud of the business we have built, but nothing trumps the relationships we have built with our customers over the years.
In 2019 I sold Ganim Medical to Centurion Service Group in Chicago. It was a perfect match. They were the largest liquidator of equipment and we were an industry leader in refurbished equipment. I had developed a proprietary software for our clients to use for asset management that we planned to expand nationwide. I bought a percentage of the new venture hoping in four or five years we might sell again. Little did I know that a short 18 months later we would be acquired by TriMedX, an industry leader in third party biomedical services.
The main focus of TriMedx was Centurion's auction services company. I think, in the beginning, Ganim Medical’s CPO business was just coming along for the ride. To their credit, the leadership team at TriMedX put great effort into building the CPO business but in the end it just didn’t fit their long term strategy. I bought Ganim Medical from TriMedX on December 31, 2022.
HCB News: Will you be concentrating on sales or offering service too?
DG: Both Ganim and DRE are sales organizations, however, we have a robust biomedical department, with nine qualified associates, that services products we sell. We do have plans to expand our service offerings in the future.
HCB News: What factors do you see defining the future of medical equipment sales for years to come?
DG: There has been a lot of talk about regulating the preowned equipment industry. In a lot of ways it is still the "Wild West", with independent reps serving a small geographic area with little guidance or control over quality. Our “Ganim Partners” program addresses this very issue.
We have a program for independent reps nationwide to carry our products with full support from Ganim and DRE. Everything from refurbishment, white-glove delivery, warranty and repair to billing is included in the program. This allows the rep to focus on sales while we provide the back-end support they need to be successful. The future looks bright for companies that provide quality products and service. We are excited to lead the way.
