Monday, January 28, 2008

Inverness makes $1.2B bid for Georgia firm

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. reports plans to buy health-management firm Matria Healthcare Inc. for cash, stock, and the assumption of debt totaling nearly $1.2 billion.

The Waltham-based maker of medical diagnostics said it plans to merge Marietta, Ga.-based Matria with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inverness that includes other disease-management firms recently acquired by the company. Matria brings expertise in women's health care, Inverness CEO Ron Zwanziger said, complementing Inverness' diagnostics products for women's health. The merger plan is also part of the firm's strategy to bring its diagnostics into the home.

Matria shareholders must approve the acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008. In a separate but related move, Inverness is working to transform its health-management business into a 50-50 joint venture with a group of unnamed investors as part of a deal that would allow the company to repurchase the investors' stake in the business.

Amid its string of buyouts in 2007, Inverness announced plans to buy health care management firms ParadigmHealth Inc. of New Jersey and Alere Medical Inc. of Nevada in deals worth and estimated $230 million and $302 million, respectively. Inverness reported a 2006 net loss of $16.8 million on revenue of $569.5 million. The firm employs 200 workers in Massachusetts.