C. R. Bard

C. R. Bard, Inc. (nyse: BCR) is one of the large S&P 500 companies of the United States, a surgical specialties and hospital medical device manufacturer in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It is named after its founder, who sold the company within only a few years of its founding. In later decades it grew to its current size largely through many small acquisitions.

History
C. R. Bard, Inc. was founded in 1923 by Charles Russell Bard.

In 1926, Bard sold the company to John F. Willits and Edson L.Outwin for US$18,000.

In 1934, the Bard company began to produce the Foley Catheter, a landmark product.

In 1948, Bard moved the company headquarters from New York City to Summit, New Jersey. That year, Net sales revenue exceeded US$1 million.

In 1963, C. R. Bard, Inc. becomes a publicly-traded company. The company had already been paying a cash dividend since 1960, and it has continued every year since.

In 1968 Bard became listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with the ticker symbol BCR. It began manufacturing operations at a plant in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

In 1974 it went international, with plants in South America and Japan.

In 1981, Bard opened manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and Ireland.

Bard peformed well through the long bear market of the 1970s. Its stock rose, from the low early in that decade, to up by seven-fold times by its 1983 peak. It split three-for-two in 1982.

By 1986, Bard had become listed in the S&P 500 among the largest 500 publicly-traded companies in the United States. Annual earnings by 1986 were over US$40 million. In 1986 the stock split again, two-for-one.

By the late 1980s, the stock had again split two-for-one.

In 1990, Bard formed the divisions Bard Electrophysiology, Bard Interventional Products, Bard Peripheral Technologies, and Specialty Access Products Business Group.

In 1994, net sales revenue reached over the US$1 billion milestone for the first time.

In 1995, Bard formed the division Bard Corporate Healthcare Services. By the end of the year, earnings were almost US$90 million, more than double from the decade earlier.

In 1996 Bard's new division Bard Medical Products was formed from the groups Davol, Bard Urological and Bard Patient Care.

In 1998 Bard did some significant divestments of businesses, as it sold the Coronary Cath Lab division to Arterial Vascular Engineering, and sold the Diagnostic Sciences division to Polymedco, and sold Global Intra-Aortic Balloon Products division to Arrow International, Inc.

In 1999, Bard continued its divestment plan, as it sold its Cardiopulmonary division to LifeStream.

In 2004 Bard sold some of its Endoscopic Technologies division to CONMED.

Acquisitions

 * 1966, Bard acquired USCI, with which it had an association dating back to 1941.
 * 1975, Bard acquired William Harvey Research Corp.
 * 1980, Bard acquired Davol Inc.
 * 1986, Bard acquired American Endoscopy, Inc.
 * 1989, Bard acquired Catheter Technology Corporation, which in 1991 became Bard Access Systems, Inc.
 * 1994
 * Angiomed AG
 * Cardial S.A.
 * Vas-Cath, Inc.
 * 1995
 * MedChem Products, Inc.
 * American Hydrosurgical
 * GESCO.
 * 1996
 * IMPRA, Inc.
 * Cardiac Assist Division of St. Jude Medical
 * X-Trode S.r.l.
 * 1998, Dymax of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * 2000
 * Surgical Sense, Inc. assets
 * Mill-Rose Laboratories, Inc. assets
 * 2003
 * Source Tech Medical, L.L.C. assets
 * Biomedical Instruments and Products GmbH technology
 * 2004
 * ONUX Medical assets
 * Bridger Biomed, Inc.
 * Sorenson Medical product line
 * 2005, GENYX Medical, Inc. assets
 * 2006
 * PST, LLC assets
 * Venetec International, Inc.