NEW YORK (Dow Jones)-Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) agreed Friday to acquire I-Flow Corp. (IFLO) for $276 million, excluding cash acquired, marking the second acquisition of a pain management company this week for the maker of consumer paper products.

Kimberly-Clark said acquiring the maker of pain-management and drug-delivery technology would increase its medical device sales by more than 50% and is part of the company’s strategy to move into higher-growth, higher-margin medical devices.

Earlier this week, the company bought the privately held Baylis Medical Co. for an undisclosed price.

Sales of Kimberly-Clark’s core brands – which include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues – have been under pressure as consumers increasingly look to purchase lower-priced products from private-label makers during the recession.

“The question is: Are these smaller acquisitions enough to dilute the negative effects of its core consumer tissue and diaper business?” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj asked.

Kimberly-Clark’s strategy contrasts with that of peer Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG), which is selling off its prescription drug business and has been shifting focus to lower-priced offerings to boost its sagging market share as consumers shun pricier goods.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Connie Maneaty said the situations were different because P&G was getting rid of non-core, slower-growth assets – such as its pharmaceutical business and Folgers – and focusing more on beauty products. Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark’s strategy has been to go into health care, excluding pharmaceuticals, Maneaty said.

The deal has a total value of $324 million, including acquired cash, and valued I-Flow at $12.65 a share, 7.6% above its closing price Thursday and a 31% premium to its 60-day average share price. I-Flow shares recently rose 84 cents, or 7.1%, to $12.60. Kimberly-Clark shares slipped 14 cents to $58.92.

Both companies’ boards have approved the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, and Kimberly-Clark expects the acquisition to add to earnings in 2011.

Caris & Co. analyst Linda Bolton Weiser said it doesn’t look like the deal is going to be hugely accretive because I-Flow has lost money through the first six months, although the business offers potentially attractive margins if Kimberly-Clark could cut costs.

The medical-device acquisitions made by Kimberly-Clark tend to be smaller companies with poor distribution operations to the health care industry, Bernstein’s Dibadj said, allowing Kimberly-Clark to profit simply by adding the acquired companies’ products on to their deliveries to hospitals.

Kimberly-Clark’s health-care segment, which had $1.22 billion in sales last year, includes products for digestive health, airway management and pain management. Medical device sales represent 20% of the company’s total health care revenue, Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman Kay Jackson said.

Through the first six months of 2009, Kimberly-Clark’s health care division is the only one to register sales growth, up 4.8% to $633 million, and its operating profit growth of 45%, outpaces the other divisions.

-By Kerry Grace Benn, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2353; kerry.benn@dowjones.com

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