A Medical Device Daily

Primedex Health Systems (Los Angeles) reported that its stockholders have approved the company’s acquisition of Radiologix (Dallas).

Primedex will acquire Radiologix in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $211 million, net of debt. The deal was first disclosed in July (Medical Device Daily, July 10, 2006).

Radiologix shareholders received an aggregate consideration of 22,621,922 shares of Primedex common stock and $42.95 million in cash. Based upon Primedex’s closing share price on Nov. 14, 2006, each Radiologix shareholder received $1.79 in cash for each Radiologix share, plus one share of Primedex common stock for a total consideration of $4.59.

With 134 locations throughout the U.S., the combined company will be the largest owner and operator of fixed-site diagnostic imaging centers in the country.

After the acquisition, Primedex will have 83 centers in California, 31 centers in Maryland, 12 centers in New York and eight centers in other states, including Florida, Kansas, Colorado and Minnesota.

The acquisition of Radiologix, a national provider of imaging services, allows Primedex to expand its presence in California, and gives the company a concentrated platform outside of California that it plans to optimize and grow. Primedex will use the acquisition to further its strategies of geographic clustering, exclusive capitation contracting and multi-modality product offerings, which it will now be able to pursue on a national scale.

“Despite this transaction, which creates the largest operator of fixed imaging centers, the $100 billion diagnostic imaging landscape remains highly fragmented and full of further opportunity,” said Howard Berger, president/CEO of Primedex. “I believe this acquisition positions us in the near future to capitalize on the dynamic changes I foresee in our industry in the years to come.”

In other dealmaking news:

Sentigen Holding (Philipsburg, New Jersey) reported that at a special meeting its stockholders approved the adoption of the agreement and plan of merger with life sciences companyInvitrogen (Carlsbad, California), which was first disclosed in September (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 5, 2006). The transaction, which is valued at $3.37 a share, or about $25.9 million for all shares currently issued and outstanding, was approved by more than 50% of the shares outstanding.

Sentigen said that the merger with Invitrogen will be completed within the next several weeks.

Invitrogen said that Sentigen’s Tango Assay System and division-arrested Assay Ready Cells will bolster its position in assay development by providing a novel approach to screen G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and other key drug target classes, as well as providing a methodology to convert live cell assays into ready-to-use consumable products. Sentigen will become a part of Invitrogen’s Discovery Sciences business (Madison, Wisconsin).

Fresenius Medical Care (Bad Homburg, Germany) reported that it has completed the acquisition of the worldwide phosphate binder business (PhosLo) from Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Boca Raton, Florida).

With the acquisition, Freseniussaid it further expands its market position in the field of dialysis-related drugs. PhosLo is a calcium acetate phosphate binder for oral application in end-stage renal disease patients.

Fresenius is one of the world’s largest integrated providers of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis because of chronic kidney failure.