A Medical Device Daily

United Surgical Partners International (USPI; Dallas) and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH; Evanston, Illinois) reported that they have signed a joint venture agreement to develop and operate a network of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers in the greater Chicago area.

Financial terms of the j-v were not disclosed.

The four surgery centers are located in Chicago, Evanston and Elmwood Park, Illinois.

Initially, ENH said, it will acquire an ownership position in four surgery centers owned by USPI and local physicians. The j-v also will seek to acquire and develop new facilities.

Jeffrey Hillebrand, chief operating officer of ENH, said that the agreement “will allow us to expand the high-quality healthcare provided by Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.”

ENH is an academic health system affiliated with Northwestern University (Evanston).

USPI also said it is acquiring “a majority interest” in San Antonio Endoscopy Surgery Center (San Antonio), a 7,000-square-foot facility with three endoscopy suites and an operating room.

USPI currently has ownership interests in or operates 90 surgical facilities, 87 domestically and three in London.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Merge Technologies (d/b/a Merge eFilm; Milwaukee), a healthcare software and services company, said that its shareholders “overwhelmingly” approved its merger with Cedara Software (Mississauga, Ontario), an independent developer of medical software, at a special shareholder meeting yesterday. The merger, initially announced in January (MDD, Jan. 19, 2005), is expected to close June 1, following court approval in Canada, Merge eFilm said.

The combined company will provide the diagnostic OEM and end-user markets with image and information solutions for managing clinical and business workflow.

Merge eFilm says it is focused on improving the productivity of imaging centers, small- to medium-sized hospitals and clinics with a suite of RIS/PACS products.

Cedara is a provider of medical imaging technologies, its software, it says, “deployed in hospitals and clinics worldwide.” Cedara recently acquired eMed Technologies, a provider of PACS and teleradiology solutions installed in more than 2,000 hospitals and imaging centers.

• Advanced Products Corp. (APC; New York) report-ed acquiring a majority interest in Advanced Machine & Stretchform International (AMSI; Gardena, California). Purchase terms were not disclosed.

APC, a holding company, says that its goal is to establish “a major design and production capability for the next generation” of products for the medical, aerospace, defense and automobile industries. Kline Equity firm Hawkes and Co. (Los Angeles) is a major investor in APC, and APC was advised and introduced to AMSI by Mergers and Business Acquisitions (Los Angeles).

AMSI manufactures structural components for the aerospace, defense and space industries.

• Diagnostic Corp. of America (DCA; Clearwater, Florida) said it has agreed to acquire, pending due diligence, an unspecified, privately held imaging center in Tampa, Florida, with $4 million in yearly billings. DCA said also that it is “is in the process” of acquiring and managing outpatient diagnostic facilities with the goal of creating a larger network, while providing “management expertise and operating efficiencies.”

• FTI Consulting (Annapolis, Maryland), a provider of corporate finance/restructuring, forensic/litigation/technology and consulting, said it has agreed to acquire the assets of privately held Cambio Health Solutions (CHS; Nashville, Tennessee). The purchase price, with a total value of about $43 million, was comprised of about $30 million in cash plus $13 million in shares of FTI common stock. It is expected to be completed before the end of May.

CHS provides “change management” solutions for hospital and health systems comprised of strategic, operational and turnaround management consulting services.

Jack Dunn, FTI’s president and CEO, said that the purchase enables the company “to provide a full range of coordinated, end-to-end, consulting resources from all three of our business segments as well as our senior investment bankers in FTI Capital Advisors.” Cambio will be integrated into FTI’s corporate finance/restructuring practice under the name FTI Cambio Health Solutions.