BAD HOMBURG, Germany—Fresenius Medical Care will acquire Liberty Dialysis Holdings Inc—the holding company for Liberty Dialysis and Renal Advantage—for $1.7 billion.
Renal Advantage and Liberty Dialysis combined in late 2010 to form the third largest U.S. dialysis provider. Liberty Dialysis Holdings has annual sales of approximately $1 billion and operate around 260 dialysis clinics, according to Fresenius.
“We are very pleased with this agreement,” said Rice Powell, chief executive officer of Fresenius Medical Care North America and deputy chairman of Fresenius Medical Care. “Both companies, Liberty Dialysis and Fresenius Medical Care, have three key assets in common: a strong commitment to continuous quality improvement, dedicated and highly-motivated staff and excellent physician partners.”
Fresenius said it expected the deal to close in early 2012, and said it anticipates that facilities may need to be divested to secure regulatory clearance of the transaction. The transaction will be financed from cash flow from operations and debt and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year after closing of the transaction.
“This combination of Liberty’s model of integrating physicians into the clinical and operational management of the facilities with Fresenius Medical Care’s focus on technology and experience with integrated delivery systems clearly gives us an opportunity to create a superior platform for innovation in the delivery of services and products and will further enhance the lives of patients entrusted to our care and reduce costs for the healthcare system,” said Mark Caputo, chief executive officer and president of Liberty Dialysis Holdings.
