A Medical Daily Staff Report

A little more than a week after its board rejected an unsolicited offer to acquire it, for $5.50 a share, or about $132 million (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 5, 2008), Thermage (Hayward, California) reported over the weekend that it received a letter from the anonymous bidder retracting the offer.

Aesthetic laser maker Thermage reiterated its commitment to its pending merger with Reliant Technologies and said it expects to close the transaction in 4Q08.

Thermage in July unveiled its plan to acquire Reliant, manufacturer of the Fraxel laser for treating fine lines, scars and skin, for about $95 million in cash and stock (MDD, July 8, 2008).

In August, an anonymous rival bid came for all the outstanding shares of Thermage for a price of $5.50 per share in cash or a combination of cash and stock (MDD, Aug. 22, 2008). That offer represented an 82% premium from Thermage's prior-day closing price.

Larry Haimovitch, president of Haimovitch Medical Consultants (Mill Valley, California) speculated at that time that the unknown player was medical aesthetic devices maker Syneron (Yokneam, Israel).

Stephen Fanning, president/CEO and chairman of Thermage, said earlier this month when the board turned down the rival bid that his company was "fully committed to our pending merger with Reliant ... our board believes that the Reliant transaction will enable the company to establish a global leadership position in the aesthetic device industry."

In other dealmaking news, WebMD Health (New York) reported that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire QualityHealth.com and its owner, Marketing Technology Solutions (MTS; Jersey City, New Jersey).

The purchase price for MTS is $50 million in cash, payable at closing, and WebMD has agreed to pay up to an additional $25 million in cash if certain performance thresholds are achieved relating to calendar year 2009.

For the year ended Dec. 31, 2007, MTS had revenue of about $21 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and other non cash expenses was approximately break-even. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close within 30 days.

WebMD said the acquisition will add performance-based marketing programs to its extensive product portfolio and expands the breadth of its offerings to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare markets.

Established in 1999, QualityHealth.com is one of the 10 largest health web sites, with about 5.5 million unique monthly visitors. QualityHealth's traffic will complement WebMD's reach of more than 48 million unique monthly visitors and more than 1.1 billion quarterly page views, further differentiating WebMD's brand and expanding its high-quality, health-engaged audience, it said.

WebMD is a provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, healthcare professionals, employers and health plans through both public and private online portals and health-focused publications.