60-year-old radiology practice sells its outpatient imaging center business to private equity-backed platform company
A more than 60-year-old radiology practice in Western New York is selling its imaging center business to Rezolut, a private equity-backed platform company, the two sides announced recently.
Founded in 1959, Southtowns Radiology operates three outpatient centers across Erie County, employing a team of 20-plus physicians. The deal will balloon Atlanta-based Rezolut’s number of imaging centers to 43, including 19 in the Northeast.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to work closely with Rezolut to explore the growth and expansion of our Radiology services,” Asha Ziembiec, MD, president of Southtowns Radiology, said in a Nov. 28 announcement. “We are also pleased to be able to continue operating our private practice group of radiologists and will continue to provide interpretation services to Southtowns’ patients while partnering with Rezolut.”
Jin Kim, MD, CEO of Rezolut, said the company pursued the partnership because of aligned values around patient care, along with the chance to strengthen its footprint in the Northeast. Founded in 2018, Rezolut is a portfolio company of private investment group Sunny River Management. On its website, the Atlanta-based firm labels Rezolut as a “high growth medical imaging business, committed to building an innovative multi-modal platform.” Sunny River Management estimated that Rezolut has completed 10 successful acquisitions and integrations in the five years since its founding.
Southtowns Radiology, meanwhile, is based in Orchard Park, New York, and is the exclusive provider of diagnostic and interventional radiology services for Catholic Health’s hospital and ambulatory locations in Erie County. The practice also serves Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, with its physicians performing a total of more than 400,000 interpretations and procedures annually.
“We are thrilled with the outcome,” Zeeshan Qureshi, MD, a lead partner of Southtowns Radiology, said in a separate Dec. 11 announcement from Ziegler, which advised SR in completing the transaction. “The partnership with Rezolut far exceeded the goals of our shareholders and allows us to continue providing clinical excellence to patients in our community, while retaining autonomy to operate our private radiology group practice.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.