A Medical Device Daily

Viasys Healthcare (Conshohocken, Pennsylvania) reported acquiring the global Medical Division (Woking, UK) of Oxford Instruments, Oxford Instruments Medical (Surrey, UK), for about $46 million (£24 million).

The largest business of the Medical Division of Oxford is neurodiagnostics, primarily electromyography (EMG) equipment and neuro supplies (EMG needles).

Viasys called the products manufactured by the Medical Division as "both intuitive and innovative, while its patented EMG needle design offers improvements in both clinical performance and patient comfort." It added: "The obstetrics and cardiology businesses also bring valuable brand recognition and are backed by a reputation for product quality and technological innovation."

Lori Cross, group president of Viasys NeuroCare, said that the acquisition "represents a significant event in the global neurovascular marketplace. After the complementary products, installed base and operations are combined, Viasys will offer its hospital and physician-office customers the most comprehensive portfolio of single and multi-modality solutions available."

Oxford Instruments Medical reported 2004 revenue of about $57 million.

Randy Thurman, president, chairman and CEO of Viasys, termed his company "the leading provider of neurodiagnostic systems and supplies. As the industry continues to consolidate, we expect the combined skills of Oxford Instruments Medical and Viasys to deliver best-in-class, multi-modality systems designed to improve outcomes for caregivers and their patients." He said the Medical Division deal "accelerates our strategy of building our leadership position in neurological and respiratory technologies, increasing sales from medical disposables and acquiring products that fit within our worldwide sales, service and distribution."

Viasys is focused on the respiratory, neurocare and medical and surgical markets; its trademarks include VMAX, LYRA, AVEA, VELA, NicoletOne, Viking Quest, Endeavor CR, Sensormedics, Corpak, Grason-Staddler Bird, Bear, Jaeger, Toennies and EME. Its businesses are conducted through its Respiratory Care, NeuroCare, MedSystems and Orthopedic units.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Sola International (San Diego) said its stockholders have approved the plan of merger among the company, Carl Zeiss TopCo (TopCo; Jena, Germany), Sun Acquisition and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of TopCo, under which TopCo would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sola for $28 per share.

Sola reported that the votes favoring approval represented just over 73% of total outstanding shares. Closing of the transaction – expected this quarter – is subject to certain approvals and financing.

Sola makes eyeglass lenses, focusing on the plastic lens segment of the global market, and on higher-margin value-added products.

• Medical Properties Trust (MPT; Birmingham, Alabama) said it completed the purchase of Desert Valley Hospital (Victorville, California), a regional acute care facility with an integrated medical office building, for about $28 million. It leased the facility back to the operator under a 15-year net lease. The tenant entered into an additional commitment with MPT for expansion of the facility expected to cost about $20 million.

Edward Aldag Jr., MPT's chairman, president and CEO, called the deal an example of MPT's strategy "of providing lease financing to successful local and regional healthcare companies ... Through such financing arrangements, MPT helps successful healthcare operators unlock the value of their real estate assets and redeploy those assets in new or expanded facilities and new technologies that can make such operators more competitive and more successful."

MPT is a self-advised real estate investment trust acquiring and developing net-leased healthcare facilities.

• Home health nursing provider Amedisys (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) said it has acquired a single home health agency from the North Arundel Hospital Association (North Arundel, Maryland), representing Amedisys' entry into Maryland. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"We are excited to enter the Maryland market and initiate a relationship with one of the state's best-equipped medical centers, which is one of six hospitals within the University of Maryland Medical System," said William Borne, CEO of Amedisys. "We continue to execute on our stated strategy of acquiring hospital-based agencies that can quickly and efficiently be integrated onto our operating platform. We continue to see a number of acquisition opportunities available, and maintain our intention to selectively acquire companies that fit our stated profile."