Business Blog: Hoover’s Business Insight Zone

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Welcome to the May edition of the Hoover’s Index. The Hoover’s Index provides insight on which companies are being watched most closely by the sales, marketing, and business development professionals who make up a large part of Hoover’s audience. Each month, I offer comments on some of the most interesting stories and trends turned up by the unique ranking system of the Hoover’s Index.

Kinetic Concepts
Kinetic Concepts isn’t a household name, but its products could be a lifesaver if you find yourself in the hospital. The company makes several different categories of medical devices, most of which aid in wound care. Its vacuum assisted closure products create areas of negative pressure around wounds to help them heal faster. The company also makes specialized tables, beds, and wheelchairs to improve the care of patients who weigh between 300 and 1,000 pounds. Kinetic Concepts made the news in April when it agreed to buy LifeCell Corporation for $1.7 billion. LifeCell makes materials used for skin grafts in various types of reconstructive surgery and in some urologic and gynecological procedures. The idea behind the deal is for the combined company to expand its offerings of biosurgical products.

Manitowoc
If you’d like a frosty beverage to wash down your meal, Manitowoc would be glad to accommodate you. The company manufactures ice-making and beverage-dispensing equipment, as well as other refrigerating products used in foodservice settings. Befitting its origins a century ago as a shipbuilder, the company also makes construction cranes, and still operates shipyards that build, service, and repair commercial and military ships. Despite its long history of successful acquisitions, Manitowoc may now find itself in the role of jilted suitor. In April, the company agreed to acquire its UK-based foodservice rival Enodis plc for about $2 billion. (The two companies had also talked about a tie-up in the second half of 2006, but never came to terms.) Early in May, however, industrial conglomerate Illinois Tool Works trumped Manitowoc’s bid for Enodis with a competing offer of $2.3 billion.

First Solar
No doubt First Solar would love to become the first name in solar power. Instead of using standard polysilicon technology in its solar-power modules, the company uses a thin-film technology that it touts as cheaper than typical photovoltaic cells. To date First Solar has relied heavily on half a dozen utility customers in Germany, but that’s worked out fine, since Germany has been building out its solar infrastructure in a big way. The company increased sales ten-fold between 2004 and 2006, then nearly quadrupled them again in 2007 alone. This growth has been rapid enough that First Solar has added production plants in Germany and Malaysia to its original factory in Ohio. This spring’s record-breaking ascent for oil prices has made well-established solar players like First Solar into market darlings.

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