Amsurg To Buy Privately Held Sheridan Healthcare In $2.35 Bln Cash, Stock Deal

(RTTNews) - Amsurg Corp. (AMSG), an operator of short stay ambulatory surgery centers, Thursday said it has agreed to acquire Sheridan Healthcare, a portfolio company of private equity investment firm Hellman & Friedman, LLC, in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $2.35 billion.

The company noted that the acquisition enhances and diversifies its growth profile and significantly accelerates organic growth. The deal is immediately and significantly accretive to adjusted earnings per share, with approximately 15 percent accretive in 2015, and also to EBITDA, a key earnings metric.

The expected issuance to Sheridan's equity holders of Amsurg equity is currently valued at approximately $615 million.

Amsurg President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Holden said, "With the addition of Sheridan, we will be significantly diversified and differentiated - holding leadership positions in outsourced physician services for anesthesia, children's services, emergency medicine services and radiology while retaining our standing as a leading owner of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers."

Amsurg and Sheridan Healthcare's respective Boards of Directors have unanimously approved the definitive agreement. The transaction would close in the third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Sheridan Healthcare is a provider of multi-specialty outsourced physician services to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and other healthcare facilities. It provides services primarily in the areas of anesthesiology, children's services emergency medicine, and radiology.

As of March 31, Amsurg owned and operated 242 ambulatory surgery centers.

Amsurg expects the combination to create a unique business model that will better meet critical needs for physicians, health systems, communities and payers.

The combined company will have a total addressable market of approximately $70 billion and will encompass more than 4,600 physician relationships across 38 states, the company said.

Sheridan's CEO John Carlyle stated, "As part of AMSURG, Sheridan will have enhanced relevance in its existing markets and expanded opportunities in important new markets in more states. We will also gain entry into additional health systems where we can add value to our clients' strategic objectives."

The transaction will be funded through fully committed financing from Citi.

In the deal, Citi is serving as financial advisor to AMSURG and Barclays, Credit Suisse and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are serving as financial advisors to Sheridan.

On Nasdaq, Amsurg shares lost $0.16 or 0.37 percent on Wednesday's trading, and settled at $42.80.