CardioNet Inc. (NSDQ:BEAT) closed its acquisition of Eagan, Minn.-based Biotel Inc. (OTC:BTEL).
The Conshohocken, Pa.-based wireless cardiac device maker picked up Biotel for $4.06 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of roughly $11.6 million, according to CardioNet.
The deal was the company’s second attempt to merge with Biotel. It had first announced plans to buy Biotel in April 2009 for $14 million, but canceled its plans for unspecified reasons. It may have lost the financial fortitude for the deal after Highmark CMS substantially cut its reimbursement rate for mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry services, from $1,200 to about $700, a setback which precipitated a shareholder lawsuit.
The Biotel acquisition includes its Braemar subsidiary’s wireless event monitor, which “enhances CardioNet’s position in the field of wireless medicine,” according to the company. The deal also enables CardioNet to enter into the clinical services market with the event, Holter and twelve-lead ECG monitoring services of Biotel subsidiary Agility Centralized Research Services, it said.
“We are excited to complete the acquisition of Biotel. We are looking forward to expanding our product offerings with Biotel’s wireless event monitor as well as diversifying our revenue with the addition of the manufacturing and clinical services businesses,” CardioNet CEO Joseph Capper said in prepared remarks.
With the completion of the acquisition, Biotel and CardioNet filed to dismiss the outstanding litigation between the two companies, an agreement reached when the companies announced the deal in November.
