A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved publicly traded radiology provider Akumin’s plan to go private.
Under terms of the deal, lender Stonepeak will swap some $470 million in debt for ownership in the reorganized business, Bloomberg Law reported Nov. 29. The New York-based alternative investment firm also plans to pump another $130 million worth of new funds into the radiology group.
Akumin’s attorney, Eric Lopez Schnabel, told the news outlet that the restructuring deal still requires regulatory approval.
Based in Plantation, Florida, the company operates a network of imaging centers, along with providing outsourced radiology and oncology services to 1,000 hospitals spanning 48 states. Akumin first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 22 after grappling with a series of challenges, including a ransomware attack that forced it to temporarily halt clinical operations.
The company first secured its loan with Stonepeak in 2021 to acquire Alliance Healthcare Services in an $820 million deal. Its debt continued to accrue interest over the past two years, but interest payments kickstarted on Sept. 1, placing additional financial pressure on Akumin. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the organization has struggled to make payments since then, asking for multiple extensions leading up to the bankruptcy filing.
Akumin did not immediately respond to a Radiology Business request for comment Thursday. Read more from Bloomberg (subscription required):
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.