A Medical Device Daily

Private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners reported that it has acquired a controlling interest in remote monitoring company The Tunstall Group (Whitley Bridge, UK), specializing in “telecare” and “telehealth,” in partnership with Tunstall’s management team, in the transaction totaling £514 million ($1.03 billion).

Bridgepoint, Tunstall’s previous majority shareholder, will reinvest to take a minority interest in the business. Management and selling shareholders retain an interest valued at £66 million on the same terms as Charterhouse.

Charterhouse said that the valuation reflects the achievements of Tunstall CEO James Buckley and the Tunstall management team over the last few years and the anticipated acceleration in market adoption in the future.

Tunstall said it recently shifted its business focus from “reactive” social alarms to “proactive, preventative” telecare and telehealth solutions. It said that telecare “is increasingly recognized as being at the heart of modern health and social care systems, and its aim is to deliver a broader range of services to assist more people by providing flexible, timely, and proactive support.”

“Telecare plays a key role in delivering personalized care to support people with health and social care needs, their families and careers,” said Buckley. “

Tunstall was the subject of a Bridgepoint-backed £225 million buyout in June 2005.

In other dealmaking news:

• Bederra (Houston) reported that it has completed the previously disclosed acquisition of privately held Lumar Diagnostic Imaging (Houston) for an undisclosed amount of cash and debt (Medical Device Daily, Jan. 24, 2008).

Lumar was formed to provide multi modality medical diagnostic imaging services such as MRI, CT, ultrasound and pain management. The facility is located adjacent to the Houston Texas Medical Center.

Last year Lumar had revenues in excess of $4 million and was profitable, according to Bederra. It will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bederra under the new name of Lumar Imaging Inc.

• RehabCare Group (St. Louis) and Floyd Healthcare Resources (FHR; Rome, Georgia) said they have reached a joint venture agreement to own and operate The Specialty Hospital, a 24-bed long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) currently owned by FHR and located on the grounds of Floyd Medical Center (Rome, Georgia). RehabCare will own 80% of the j-v. The agreement will require approval by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.

RehabCare and FHR also reported plans to expand the LTACH to 45 beds under a previously granted certificate of need and to relocate it to a freestanding facility that the j-v will construct on the campus of the medical center, the construction to be completed by the end of 2009.

LTACHs provide specialized, around-the-clock care for extended stay patients with chronic or complex conditions, such as ventilator dependency, brain injury, cardiopulmonary disease, chronic pain and neuropathy. Patients are typically admitted to an LTACH following treatment in a traditional acute care hospital, and the average length of stay exceeds 25 days.