Rapid diagnostics maker Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts) continued its recent buying spree with a report that it has agreed to acquire Cholestech (Hayward, California) in a stock-for-stock exchange deal valued at roughly $326.3 million.

IMI will acquire Cholestech’s shares for an exchange ratio of 0.43642 shares of IMI common stock for each share of Cholestech common stock.

This latest acquisition by IMI follows close on the heels of its pending $92.50-a-share buy of Biosite (San Diego). IMI bested rival suitor Beckman Coulter (Fullerton, California) in May by agreeing to pay $2.50 more per share.

In March, the company acquired 75% of the capital stock of Instant Technologies (Norfolk, Virginia) for $43.7 million to be paid in a ratio of 70% cash and 30% stock (MDD, March 15, 2007).

Instant Technologies distributes rapid drugs-of-abuse diagnostic products used in the workplace, criminal justice and other markets

In February, the company acquired Promesan (Milan, Italy), a distributor of point-of-care diagnostic testing products to the Italian marketplace, for about 113.4 million ($4.4 million) (MDD, Feb. 5, 2007).

Cholestech is a provider of diagnostic tools and information for risk assessment and therapeutic monitoring of heart disease and inflammatory disorders. IMI said it expects opportunities to develop between Cholestech and its existing point-of-care organization, as well as with those of other recently acquired and to-be-acquired companies and expects the transaction to be accretive in the short term.

Ron Zwanziger, CEO of IMI, said, “We expect that the acquisition of Cholestech, especially when coupled with our recent and pending acquisitions, will provide Inverness with the unique ability to assess cardiac risk, diagnose cardiac conditions and potentially monitor the condition and response to therapy of cardiac patients. The large installed base of Cholestech systems in physicians’ offices will also be helpful as we continue to expand into this market segment.”

The merger requires Cholestech shareholder approval and the satisfaction of other customary conditions. IMI shareholder approval is not required. The transaction is structured as a tax-free reorganization and is expected to close during the fall of 2007.

Covington & Associates acted as financial advisor and Foley Hoag acted as legal counsel to IMI. Savvian Advisors acted as financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati acted as legal counsel to Cholestech.

In other dealmaking activity:

• HealthSouth (Birmingham, Alabama) reported that it will sell its corporate campus in Birmingham.

The campus consists of a 200,000 square-foot headquarters building, the 85-acre corporate campus on which the headquarters sits, and a contiguous 19-acre tract of land that includes an incomplete 13- story building formerly called the “Digital Hospital.” The transaction is under contract with an investment fund, sponsored by Trammell Crow Company, for a purchase price of at least $60 million and is expected to close by the end of July.

HealthSouth said that execution of this agreement is another step in its plan, unveiled last August, to deleverage the company and reposition it for growth as a “pure play” post-acute care provider with a focus on inpatient rehabilitation.

It said that proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay down a portion of the company’s long-term debt.

“We have always believed there was a lot of value in this property,” said Jay Grinney, president/CEO of HealthSouth. “But, we also knew this building was too big for a company of our size and required more resources than a healthcare company should be spending on its corporate headquarters.”

HealthSouth will continue to lease space in the existing headquarters building for at least one year, then either remain in the current building or re-locate to other space in the Birmingham area.

“We have engaged Carruthers Real Estate Company to assist us in evaluating our relocation alternatives and hope to find something in close proximity to our existing space,” said Grinney. “This community has been very good to HealthSouth. We call this home and intend to continue to support this great city in the years to come.”

• eXegenics (d.b.a. Opko Health; Miami, Florida) has agreed to acquire Ophthalmic Technologies (OTI; Toronto), a private company providing eye care imaging systems.

Opko purchased one-third of the common shares of the company and received an exclusive option to purchase the remaining shares over a period of about six months. The specific value of the deal was not disclosed.

Additionally, Opko has hired Steven Verdooner as executive VP of instrumentation, a new position.

Dr. Philip Frost, CEO and chairman of Opko, cited “powerful synergies between our therapeutics pipeline and the diagnostic systems and devices used by eye care professionals, and we believe OTI will be a good strategic foundation for that business.” He said that Verdooner’s experience in ophthalmic diagnostic instrumentation “will be very valuable as we build our presence in this sector.”

OTI provides ophthalmic ultrasound and imaging products used by eye care professionals for both routine and specialized care. The company’s SLO/OCT system provides a flexible platform that can process a variety of diagnostic tests. OTI has offices in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. and a distributor network that currently covers more than 40 countries.

Steven Verdooner joins Opko from Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS), which he co-founded in 1984. In his more than 20 years at OIS, Verdooner had responsibility for a variety of areas, serving as executive VP, president, CEO and chairman.

Opko was recently reconstituted as a specialty healthcare company through a three-way merger with private companies Acuity Pharmaceuticals and Froptix. Its product portfolio includes the gene silencing agent bevasiranib; a clinical stage product for conjunctivitis; and a pipeline of preclinical candidates.