LabCorp ($LH) completed its $241 million buyout of Medtox yesterday, and now the diagnostics giant is fielding questions on whether it's being targeted for acquisition, something the company denies.
Rumors surfaced this week that private equity firms are eyeing the Burlington, NC company for a buyout, Bloomberg reports, with Bank of America said to be amassing capital to purchase the diagnostics firm. For its part, LabCorp says it has heard the rumors and that they have no merit. "The company has no knowledge of any such plans and is not in current discussions with any firms to effect such a transaction," LabCorp said in a statement.
But LabCorp had cheerier news to report: After a couple months of regulatory wrangling, its buyout of toxicology and occupational health diagnostics company Medtox cleared a shareholder vote. The $241 million deal gives LabCorp all of Medtox's on-the-market tests and use of the company's Minnesota laboratories division, which conducts clinical trials. In 2011, Medtox generated about $108 million in revenue.
As for the rumored buyout, the company could go for about $100 a share, analysts told Bloomberg, and its market value sits somewhere around $8.1 billion. Among the private equity firms with the financial muscle to bid on LabCorp are TPG Capital, Bain Capital Partners and Blackstone Group, the news service reports.
- here's LabCorp's statement on the rumors
- check out the company's release on Medtox
- get more from Bloomberg