Hologic to acquire rival breast care company for $310M—plus 2 more radiology vendor M&A deals

Mammography system maker Hologic Inc. announced Monday it is acquiring a rival breast care company for $310 million—1 of 3 recent radiology vendor M&A deals in the last week.

The agreement is with Endomag, a developer of breast surgery localization and lymphatic tracing technologies. Based in Cambridge, U.K., the company generated about $35 million in revenue last year.

“Endomag’s suite of solutions complements our existing breast surgery portfolio and will provide surgeons and radiologists with an expanded range of options to meet the individual needs of more patients undergoing critical breast cancer procedures,” Erik Anderson, president of breast and skeletal health solutions at Hologic, said in an April 29 statement.

Products now joining the Hologic brand will include the Magseed marker for magnetic tissue localization before surgery. Endomag also offers the Magtrace lymphatic tracing injectable for breast cancer staging and the Sentimag platform, which supports both localization and lymphatic tracing.

Marlborough, Massachusetts-based, publicly traded Hologic said the transaction is still subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The acquisition is expected to be slightly dilutive to Hologic’s earnings per share in fiscal 2024, break even in 2025 and accretive thereafter.

Merger in medical physics

In other radiology vendor M&A news, West Physics Consulting is acquiring the medical physics service division of Tricord Inc.

West Physics is based in Atlanta and serves over 5,400 client sites including freestanding imaging centers, mobile radiology services providers and physician offices. The organization offers radiation safety consulting services along with medical physics testing and aids providers in maintaining accreditation with the ACR and Joint Commission.

Meanwhile, Tricord Inc. has been around since 2004 and is a “respected” provider of health, medical, industrial and environmental physics services based in Paducah, Kentucky.

"We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Tricord's medical physics business,” Geoffrey West, PhD, president and chief medical physicist of West Physics, said in an April 25 announcement. “This acquisition will enable us to expand our client base and enhance our diagnostic physics testing services for customers in western Kentucky, southern Missouri, southern Illinois and Tennessee,” he added.

West Physics employs a team of over 130 professionals serving all 50 states and making it the “largest diagnostic medical physics practice in the United States.”

“While I have greatly enjoyed serving our medical clients over two decades, now was the right time for me to step back and place my clients in the care of a firm with the capability to take care of them for many years to come,” Steve Meiners, president of Tricord, said in the announcement.

Radiology appointment scheduling firm CCD Health sold

A private equity-backed vendor is acquiring CCD Health, a firm that uses AI to help radiology groups with appointment scheduling.

Los Angeles revenue cycle management company GeBBS Healthcare Solutions is executing the deal, which will expand its market, services, capabilities and footprint. GeBBS is a portfolio company of ChrysCapital, according to an announcement.

“This partnership will create a distinguished national leader in the tech-enabled end-to-end patient access and revenue cycle services," Kalil Diaz, CEO of CCD Health, said April 26. "GeBBS' cutting-edge automation solutions, extensive geographic footprint, and profound expertise across the entire revenue cycle, combined with our nearshore delivery capabilities, will create a uniquely compelling offering for the U.S. healthcare market.

CCD Health is a call center based in the Dominican Republic focused on improving the patient experience at radiology groups and other providers. Its mission is to “maximize efficiency to reduce error rates and yield high patient satisfaction,” according to the announcement.

Marty Stempniak

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. 

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The all-in-one Omni Legend PET/CT scanner is now being manufactured in a new production facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin.