Hospital Business Week
Copyright 2007 Hospital Business Week via IncRx.com via NewsRx.com and NewsRx.net
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — Emergency Medical Services Corporation (NYSE: EMS) (the “Company”) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abbott Ambulance, Inc. (“Abbott”), based in St. Louis, Missouri. Abbott is the largest private provider of emergency and non-emergency ambulance services in the greater St. Louis area. As part of the transaction, the Company also will acquire certain affiliates of Abbott, including Mission Care of Illinois, LLC, a provider of emergency and non-emergency ambulance services in southwest Illinois; the IHM Health Studies Center, an accredited paramedic training school; and Access2Care, LLC, a growing company in the managed transportation business.
William A. Sanger, EMSC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “This acquisition provides EMS entry into a new market in two business lines. A strong and well-managed company, Abbott will serve as an excellent platform for expansion of our ambulance services in the Missouri and Illinois markets. Abbott’s managed transportation business, Access2Care, offers us opportunities to expand our managed transportation services into the commercial market. Abbott’s IHM Health Studies Center is a strong addition to AMR’s National College of Technical Instruction (NCTI), the largest paramedic training school in the nation.”
Upon completion of the transaction, Abbott will become a wholly owned subsidiary of American Medical Response (AMR) and will continue to operate under the Abbott brand in all the communities it currently serves.
Abbott’s Managing Member and majority owner, Marvin Wool, said, “Abbott’s strong local service coupled with AMR’s national presence brings the business to a new level, integrating excellent caregivers and EMS leaders with national expertise and resources. We are pleased with the change in ownership and know that it means great things for the future of Abbott.”
Matt McCormick, President of Abbott, added, “For more than 30 years, Abbott has been the region’s leading provider of pre-hospital care and ground ambulance services. This relationship with AMR will enhance our ability to continually meet the needs of the communities and institutions we serve and the patients for whom we care each day.”
The agreement to purchase Abbott was entered into on July 3, 2007. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions. The Company estimates that the acquisition will contribute approximately $28 million in annual revenue and 87,000 transports.
The Company also announced that on July 1, AMR began providing 9-1-1 and non-emergency transport service as the exclusive provider to the city of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County, New Mexico, under a four-year agreement. The agreement is expected to contribute approximately $5 million in annual revenue and 13,500 transports.
In addition, the Company noted that Standard & Poor’s has raised its rating on the Company’s senior secured credit facility to ‘BB’ from ‘B+.’ Standard & Poor’s also raised the Company’s recovery rating to ‘1' from ‘2' in conjunction to its introduction of a new secured issue rating framework, which now incorporates recoveries in all secured issue level ratings.