Blackstone Group is said to be leading the bidding war for electronic medical records company Allscripts (NSDQ:MDRX) but the 2 sides are far from agreeing on a price, according to Reuters.
Citing 3 "people familiar with the matter," the news agency said a deal is "highly uncertain."
Blackstone has edged out Carlyle Group and TPG Capital Management so far but is "skeptical" that a deal can be struck, according to Reuters. That’s because Allscripts, bedeviled by sliding earnings and increased competition from the likes of Cerner (NSDQ:CERN) and Epic Systems Corp., is still demanding a high premium.
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MDRX shares were trading at $11.14 as of about 1 p.m. today, up a hair but still 2.4% above its $10.88 closing price Sept. 27, the day before news of the possible acquisition broke.
A deal for Allscripts wouldn’t be Blackstone’s 1st foray into the EMR space. Last year the private equity firm ponied up some $3 billion to buy Emdeon Inc.
MDT’s Oesterle: Why buy the cow when the milk’s already free?
Dr. Stephen Oesterle, Medtronic‘s (NYSE:MDT) senior vice president for medicine & technology, said he’s still interested in launching an R&D center in Israel, but question whether it’s really necessary given that country’s robust entrepreneurial environment.
"I’m still very enthusiastic about the idea of setting up a significant R&D center in Israel. On the other hand, there is an approach which says that you innovate wonderfully on your own, so why do I need to strengthen your engineers ‘in captivity?’ It’s preferable to invest, to let startups develop and only then to buy them. These are strategic questions asked by all our business divisions," Oesterle told Globes.
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Tria Beauty drums up $8M
Cosmetic medical device company Tria Beauty raised $7.5 million of a hoped-for $20 million from 6 unnamed investors, according to a regulatory filing.
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Misonix backer boosts stake by 34%
Investor Norman Pessin added more than 34% to his stake in ultrasound medical device company
Misonix (NSDQ:MSON), according to regulatory filings.
Pessin now owns about 365,000 shares of Misonix, for about 5.2% of the company.
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NASDAQ warns Cardica on possible delisting
Cardica (NSDQ:CRDC) said the NASDAQ stock exchange warned it of a possible delisting due to its market capitalization falling below $50 million. The medical device company has 6 months to regain the market’s good graces, according to a regulatory filing.
CRDC shares were trading at $1 apiece as of about 1:20 p.m. today, down 4.8%; its market cap was $36.95 million.
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Analysts’ ups and downs
- Abbott (NYSE:ABT): Sanford C. Bernstein reiterates "market perform" rating, $62 price target.
- Alimera Sciences (NSDQ:ALIM): Oppenheimer reiterates "outperform" rating, lowers price target from $5 to $3.
- AthenaHealth (NSDQ:ATHN):
- Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX): S&P cuts debt rating to A from A+; outlook “Stable.”
- Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX): JMP Securities upgrades to "outperform" from "market perform" rating, sets $9 price target; UBS AG reissues "neutral" rating.
- Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW): J.P. Morgan & Co. reiterates "neutral" rating, lowers price target from $87 to $86; Leerink Swann reinforces "outperform" rating, $100 price target.
- HeartWare International (NSDQ:HTWR): Goldman Sachs Group reiterates "neutral" rating, lowers price target from $86 to $84.
- Insulet (NSDQ:PODD): Raymond James initiates coverage with “outperform” rating.
- St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ): Mizuho upgrades from "neutral" to "buy" rating, sets $40 price target.
- Thoratec (NSDQ:THOR): Goldman Sachs Group upgrades to "CL-buy" rating, raises price target from $46 to $48.
- Unilife (NSDQ:UNIS): Leerink Swann maintains “outperform” rating, $5-$6 price target.
ISI Group reiterates “market weight” rating, lowers price target from $78 to $74.
