Drug Firm in Orange to Acquire a Midwest Competitor : Purchase: Continuing its expansion plans, Bergen Brunswig will buy Healthcare Distributors of Indiana Inc.

ORANGE —  Bergen Brunswig Corp., continuing its strategy of nationwide expansion, announced Monday that it has agreed to buy a controlling interest in a Midwest competitor.

Already the second-largest U.S. drug wholesaler, Bergen Brunswig said that the pending acquisition of Healthcare Distributors of Indiana Inc. will give the Orange-based company a larger presence in the Midwest.

Recent acquisitions of Durr-Fillauer Medical Inc. in Alabama and Dr. T.C. Smith Co., with offices in Asheville and Raleigh, N.C., have solidified the East and Southeast for Bergen Brunswig. The announcement that it plans to purchase Healthcare Distributors for about $14 million will strengthen its market share in the back yard of Cardinal Distribution Inc., the Ohio-based competitor that fought Bergen Brunswig for control of Durr-Fillauer during the summer.

Bergen Brunswig said that the Healthcare Distributors deal is expected to close next month. Healthcare Distributors has annual revenue of about $140 million. After its acquisition of Durr-Fillauer, which cost $470 million, Bergen Brunswig will have annual revenue of about $6 billion.

The Healthcare Distributors purchase announcement boosted Bergen Brunswig’s stock to $20.625 a share, up 37.5 cents, in Monday’s trading on the American Stock Exchange.