Amicas agrees to Merge Healthcare takeover
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Imaging IT solutions provider Amicas agrees to be acquired by health IT firm Merge Healthcare after determining that the $248 million purchase price was a better offer than Amicas' previous $217 million deal to be bought out by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, Amicas announces March 5. Following the initial $5.35-per-share Thoma Bravo deal last December, Amicas announced Feb. 24 that it was considering a revised $6.05-per-share bid from Merge Healthcare (1"The Gray Sheet" March 1, 2010). Amicas will now pay an $8.6 million termination fee to Thoma Bravo (half of which will be reimbursed by Merge) and enter into a definitive merger agreement with Merge (2"The Gray Sheet" Jan. 4, 2010). The combination will "create a leading global healthcare IT provider and a pure-play medical imaging software vendor," Amicas says. Combined offerings will "range from comprehensive automation solutions for cardiology and radiology providers to enterprise content management solutions for [integrated delivery networks] to [original equipment manufacturer] solutions for health IT applications to trial, site and patient management solutions for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and contract research organizations.