It looks like a seller’s market in the lab industry right
now. Merger & Acquisition activity continues at a brisk pace.
Just a few weeks ago, Sonic Healthcare, Ltd. announced it was
purchasing Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii, LLP for an estimated
$121 million dollars. That sale is expected to be completed by
the end of third quarter this year.
In 2007, AmeriPath, Inc. was acquired by Quest Diagnostics, Inc.
for approximately $2 billion. With annual revenue of $750 million,
the multiple paid in this transaction was 17 times EBITDA (earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).
Record prices like these for recent lab sales have startled many—and
are motivating laboratory owners and shareholders to consider
selling their labs. And because the number of qualified, motivated
buyers has increased, it’s a seller's market, with buyers
willing to pay these higher-than-normal prices.
To help lab owners, shareholders, and pathologists like you take
advantage of this hot market, THE DARK REPORT and DARK DAILY created
a brand-new audio conference, “Lab And Pathology Mergers
& Acquisitions: Must-Have Essentials To Learn Before
You Sell or Buy A Lab.”
Find out how to get your strategic business planning on the right
track. Learn what it takes to power your laboratory and pathology
group into a more profitable enterprise now, thus supporting a
higher value and sale price should you decide to sell your lab.
Even if you’re still years away from selling, this conference
is your chance to learn how to avoid the problems and pitfalls
that have cost some unwitting pathologists and lab sellers big
money when they eventually sold their labs.
THE DARK REPORT AUDIO CONFERENCE DETAILS
DATE:
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
TIME: 1 p.m. EDT; 12 p.m. CDT; 11 a.m. MDT; 10 a.m.
PDT
PLACE: Your telephone or speakerphone
COST: $245 for Audio CD
TO ORDER CD:Click
here or call 1-800-560-6363 toll-free
For
one low price—just $195 (through 7/18/08; $245 thereafter)—you
and your entire team can take part in this fast-paced, insightful
audio conference. Best of all, you’ll be able to connect
personally with our speakers when we open up the phone lines for
live Q&A.
This is your opportunity to spend time with two of the lab industry’s
most respected experts in laboratory business transactions. Both
Doug Brown and Anthony Konkoly have handled dozens of high-profile
laboratory business transactions. Each has seen the best and the
worst and will share lessons learned with lab owners and pathologist-partners.
Here’s
just some of what you’ll learn during this insightful 90-minute
conference:
What
buyers value most when considering a laboratory acquisition.
Three
things a lab owner can do to maximize the value and sales price
of his/her laboratory.
Recent laboratory sales and what affected the final prices paid.
Secrets of auditing your lab and fixing problems to add value,
raise the sales price, and could increase cash flow.
Tips for assembling the best “deal team.”
The five most expensive errors lab owners make and how to fix
them.
Four focus areas for sellers that support a strong sales price—and
improve short-term profits before the sale.
The most important tax planning steps every lab owner and pathologist-partner
should take, well before the lab is listed for sale.
How to avoid the “double tax” on the sale of C-Corporation
assets.
The best structure for contracts between the lab and its employees,
suppliers and payers that support a trouble-free sale.
Doug
Brown has been in the investment banking industry
since 1991 and is a Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment
Banking Division at Wachovia Securities. He has worked on initial
public offerings, sellside and buyside advisory on mergers and
acquisitions, private equity placements and private and public
debt offerings. Prior to joining Wachovia, Brown was a Vice President
in the Healthcare
Investment Banking Division at Salomon Smith Barney. He received
his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and
his BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Specific
to the laboratory services industry, Brown has advised multiple
clients, including Clinical Pathology Laboratories, American Esoteric
Laboratories, Specialty Laboratories, Ameripath, Bostwick Laboratories,
Berkeley HeartLab, and others.
Anthony Konkoly,
Esq. is a Member of McDonald Hopkins, LLC, a full-service
law firm with offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago
and West Palm Beach. He has a varied corporate law practice with
extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint
ventures and international business transactions, representing
publicly held, private companies and emerging businesses. Konkoly
has had extensive experience representing various parties in the
sale of laboratory businesses, the establishment of laboratory
joint ventures and the formation of new lab companies. Konkoly
earned his degree, magna cum laude in 1986 from Case Western Reserve
University. He received his degree in Finance, with distinction,
in 1982 from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the
Ohio State Bar Association and the Greater Cleveland Bar Association.
