Merge No Longer for Sale

Merge Healthcare’s CEO, Jeff Surges, said in the company's fourth quarter earnings call that the imaging software provider is no longer looking for a buyer. Last September, the Chicago-based company asked an investment banking firm to solicit offers for the public company, which had a down year last year. It reported an $8.4 million operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2012. In the same time period in 2011, it had made an $8.3 million operating profit.According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the company appears to have decided that it would be better off continuing to operate independently than accept the offers it got. Merge did report a 7.1% increase in net sales in 2012 from 2011. "Following discussions with other companies in our sector, as well as with various private equity firms, we received several non-binding indications of interest. Our board has unanimously determined that the valuation ranges set forth in these indications of interest, did not appropriately value the company,” Surges said in the fourth quarter earnings call.