AmeriPath and Specialty Labs finalize $315 million merger.AmeriPath Inc. has closed its merger with Valencia-based Specialty Laboratories Inc. in an estimated $315 million deal for the locally based provider of diagnostic testing Diagnostic testing Testing performed to determine if someone is affected with a particular disease. Mentioned in: Von Willebrand Disease . Under terms of the deal, AmeriPath. a publicly held Palm Beach Garden, Fla., company providing pathology pathology, study of the cause of disease and the modifications in cellular function and changes in cellular structure produced in any cell, organ, or part of the body by disease. and other diagnostic services diagnostic services, n.pl the imaging and laboratory capabilities available for determining the cause of an illness. to physicians, laboratories and hospitals, agreed to pay Specialty shareholders $13.25 per share, a 27 per cent premium to the average trading price Trading price The price at which a security is currently selling. during the three months before the deal was announced in late September. The bi-coastal laboratories of AmeriPath and Specialty will retain their individual corporate identities and names, said AmeriPath chief executive Donald Steen in a statement. "Our complementary areas of expertise and service offerings will allow us to build on both companies' leadership positions, provide access to each other's medical and scientific expertise, (and) expand our geographic presence to better serve our customers." said Steen, whose company's primary markets are outside Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and the Southwest. AmeriPath financed the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and private financing arrangements. Specialty Family Limited Partnership, the Valencia company's majority shareholder, and related parties own about 20 percent of the combined company In 2004, Specialty Laboratories agreed to pay $12 million to settle a group of securities class action lawsuits class action lawsuit A lawsuit in which one party or a limited number of parties sue on behalf of a larger group to which the parties belong. For example, investors may bring a class action lawsuit against a brokerage firm that has actively promoted a tax . The company' s stock had fallen 80 percent in 2002 on news that government inspectors had found unlicensed personnel working at its laboratory, in addition to other state and federal regulatory violations. The company paid $600,000 in fines and other costs to settle those investigations. |
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