Behind the X-Ray: Utah’s Varex Imaging Pulls Off a Complex $490 Million Refinancing

Varex, a Salt Lake City-based X-ray technology supplier that generated nearly $845 million in fiscal 2025 revenue, has now replaced costly 2027 debt with a new 2031 credit structure led by Zions Bancorporation

23 March 2026 — SALT LAKE CITY — Most Utah business executives have probably never heard of Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX), and yet I believe that this point is precisely why this story matters.

To be clear, Salt Lake City-based Varex Imaging is not a small niche player.

It is a NASDAQ-listed supplier of core X-ray imaging components used in medical imaging, industrial inspection, and security screening, all around the globe, with fiscal 2025 revenue of $844.6 (for the year ended October 3).

For readers who don't know the Varex story, it officially spun out of Varian Medical Systems in 2017 as a standalone, publicly traded company, although its roots can be traced back to the mid-1900s.

Today, Varex makes X-ray tubes, detectors, linear accelerators, software, and select X-ray systems.

It is also the global leader in industrial linear accelerators, with those products used in cargo screening systems worldwide.

In plain English, Utah is home to an approximately $845 million-revenue public company operating inside a critical layer of the global X-ray market, even if most Utahns could not identify it.

Now that you have a better idea of "who" Varex Imaging is and what it's all about, here's the actual news.

Last week Varex announced that it has completed a refinancing built around a new $490 million credit package that eliminates older, higher-cost debt with a longer-dated financing structure designed to reduce financing cost and improve flexibility.

The multifaceted aspects of this new financing includes

🔹 A $350 million secured term loan,

🔹 A $100 million secured revolving credit facility, and

🔹 A $40 million delayed-draw term loan facility,

each maturing in March 2031.

And, as it turns out, Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) served as lead arranger and sole bookrunner of this debt financing package.

What Just Happened?

Clearly, the mechanics matter, but the story is not the mechanics.

Varex used the new financing package to redeem/pay back all $368 million of its 7.875% Senior Secured Notes that were due next year and terminated its prior revolving credit facility.

The company explained in its news release that its refinancing also used about $42 million of cash, including an $18 million reduction in debt, about $7 million of call premium, about $12 million of accrued interest, and about $5 million of transaction fees.

According to my calculations, by doing so, Varex effectively lowered its interest rate to ~6.15%, which management said should reduce annualized cash interest expense by more than $7 million.

That last figure is real, but it's also not the main event.

Instead, the deeper story is that this Utah company just reworked nearly half a billion dollars of financing in a way that appears intended to strengthen the company’s financial architecture.

And it did so by pushing out maturity risk and replacing expensive debt with cheaper debt, while also instituting additional access to capital.

That's the story.

Why Varex Matters More Than Its Local Brand Name Recognition May Suggest

To be honest, the first time I learned that Varex Imaging even existed was last year.

That's saying a lot for someone who (like myself) is a voracious consumer of business news and information, and has also lived and has operated in Utah's business ecosystem for decades at the intersection of public relations services and mass market communications, messaging and branding.

Clearly, Varex understands that (outside the prospect of me as a retail shareholder), I do not fit its classic Ideal Customer Profile makeup.

that's because Varex largely sells into OEM channels (Original Equipment Manufacturers), which means its reported revenue captures only one layer of a broader downstream value chain in medical, industrial, and security markets.

This understanding helps explain why many Utah readers may not know of the company even though its actual commercial footprint is substantial. And that matters.

However, when a Utah-based public company with nearly $845 million in annual revenue operates quietly inside global infrastructure markets, its capital decisions deserve more attention than its name recognition might suggest.

Why the Refinancing Matters

With last week's announcement, Varex explained that the borrowings under the new structure are tied to "SOFR" plus a leverage-based margin, and that it entered into an interest-rate swap that effectively fixes the SOFR component at 3.65%, with the agreed-upon applicable margin of 2.50%.

In essence, an effective new borrowing rate of 6.15% vs. the prior 7.875%.

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: SOFR (aka, "Secured Overnight Financing Rate") refers to an overnight interest rate for borrowing cash with U.S. Treasuries as collateral.}

For readers who do not spend their days inside credit agreements, the plain-English version is straightforward:

Varex Imaging found a way to replace costly nearer-dated debt with cheaper and longer-dated debt while maintaining more financial flexibility.

It's not glamorous, per se, but it is disciplined.

And the timing makes sense.

In its most recent quarter (ended 2 January 2026), Varex Imaging reported $210 million in revenue, up 5% year over year, but also posted a $16 million cash outflow from operations, with inventory identified as the main reason cash and marketable securities declined.

In that context, lower financing cost and longer maturity runway are not abstract finance concepts. They are operating tools.

Why Utah Money Watch Readers Should Care

To be honest, the easiest business stories to write are the sexy ones:

• Venture rounds,
• Acquisitions and mergers,
• Plant openings, and
• Boosted valuations driven by varied success metrics.

Clearly, this is not that kind of story, but in some ways it is arguably more important.

Why? Because this is a story about financial strategy beneath the surface of a firm with a history approaching 80 years.

It's also a story about what management does when it wants to reduce drag, widen optionality, and improve the balance sheet without fanfare.

Is it sexy? Not really.

And yet, such stories often tell you more than the louder ones do.

More importantly, in this case, the Utah angle is strong.

In summary, Varex Imaging, a Salt Lake City-headquartered public company with significant global market exposure, just executed a sophisticated refinancing of $490 million with a major Utah bank leading the deal.

Nicely done, Team Varex.

Publisher's Note

This writeup was originally published and distributed to our Subscribers at approximately 4:10pm MT on Monday, 23 March 2026.

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