Health and Healthcare

Merger Monday Heads to the Lab (MTOX, LH)

Source: Jon Ogg
Merger and acquisition news has been a bit light of late, but there is at least one deal out there this Monday for M&A watchers to chew over.  MEDTOX Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: MTOX) has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE: LH).

LabCorp will be acquiring MEDTOX in a premium buyout that values the company at a share price not seen since briefly in 2007.  The purchase price is at $27.00 per share and the merger is an all cash deal.  It will also give MEDTOX A total enterprise value of approximately $241,000,000 after considering equity and debt.

MEDTOX is a provider of high quality specialized lab testing services and on-site/point-of-collection testing devices. The board of directors of MEDTOX unanimously approved the agreement and recommended approval of the transaction by MEDTOX’s shareholders.

Shares are up 35% at $26.71 for MEDTOX versus a prior 52-week trading range of $11.64 to $22.55; Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) shares are up 0.9% at $83.07 against a 52-week range of $74.57 to $99.76.  As far as how the value compares, LabCorp has a market value of some $8 billion.

JON C. OGG

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