Although officials at Stanford Hospitals & Clinics decline to publicly discuss the pending sale of its laboratory outreach business, Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE:LH), during a conference call with analysts executives last week, confirmed that the sale is imminent.
“I can tell you that we signed a definitive agreement with Stanford in July to acquire their outreach business and we expect that to close on August 1st,” stated LabCorp President and CEO David King, in response to questions from analysts during the phone call which took place on July 24.
Last Friday, in response to press inquiries, a Stanford Hospital spokesman denied claims by union officials that as many as 350 laboratory employees would lose their job as a result of the sale. He stated that only 200 employees had received lay-off notices earlier this spring and that “to date, over half have been hired or offered positions by the purchaser, and we expect that number to grow.”
Even as the LabCorp acquisition of the Stanford Hospital laboratory outreach business moves to a conclusion, there has been no official word on the other major laboratory business known to negotiating a sale. It is believed that Carilion Clinic has narrowed the list of buyers down to just one: LabCorp. Carilion officials had placed their laboratory business up for sale last winter. (See Dark Daily, April 15, 2008.)
Several other laboratory acquisitions are unfolding. One deal just announced is the sale of UroPath, Inc. of Arlington, Texas, to HealthTronics, Inc. , of Austin, Texas. This transaction price is $7.5 million and involves the anatomic pathology condominium laboratory business developed by UroPath. Another laboratory sale is the purchase of Parkway Clinical Laboratories, Inc. of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, by Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (Nasdaq: ROSG) of Jersey City, New Jersey. Purchase Price is $2.9 million.
Laboratory owners, shareholders, and pathologists with partnerships in pathology group practices who are interested in the laboratory merger & acquisition market will have the opportunity to get up-to-the minute intelligence on these and other laboratory acquisitions. On Wednesday July 30, Dark Daily and The Dark Report will host “Lab and Pathology Mergers & Acquisitions: Essentials that All Lab Owners and Buyers Should Know.” It will be conducted at 1 p.m EDT/12 p.m. CDT/11 a.m. MDT/10 a.m. PDT. Click here to register and get additional information.
Speaking on the audio conference are:
1) Doug Brown, Managing Director of Wachovia Securities, who will provide a concise overview of the factors supporting higher valuations for laboratory assets, along with a discussion of recent noteworthy lab acquisitions, and,
2) Attorney Anthony Konkoly, Esquire, and Member of McDonald Hopkins, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Konkoly will provide useful information about the mistakes lab sellers often make, and how to fix those issues before offering the laboratory for sale. He will also provide laboratory owners with some proven recommendations on how to minimize tax consequences from the sale and maximize the net proceeds from the sale for the lab’s owners.
In closing, the upcoming audio conference will include ample question and answer time for participants, to allow lab owners and sellers personal access to the perspectives and expertise of these two veteran lab industry deal-makers.
THE DARK REPORT AUDIO CONFERENCE DETAILS
DATE: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
TIME: 1 p.m. EDT; 12 p.m. CDT; 11 a.m. MDT; 10 a.m. PDT
PLACE: Your telephone or speakerphone
COST: $245 per dial-in site (unlimited attendance per site)
TO REGISTER: Go Here http://www.darkreport.com/Audio/7.30.08/Laboratory-Pathology-Mergers-Acquisitions-Sell-and-Buy.htm or call 1-800-560-6363 toll-free
