Execs from Irvine’s Alliance Healthcare staying after $820M sale to Florida’s Akumin

$820M Including Debt; Longmore-Grund Co-CEO

Executives with Irvine-based Alliance HealthCare Services Inc. are staying in leadership positions with outpatient imaging provider Akumin Inc. (Nasdaq: AKU), after the publicly traded company finalized the $820 million purchase of Alliance earlier this month.

The acquisition, announced about two months ago, closed on Sept. 1, creating one of the nation’s largest providers of MRI services. Both Akumin and Alliance provide diagnostic radiology services to hospitals, health systems and physician groups throughout the U.S.

Alliance provides services to more than 1,000 hospitals, health systems and physician practices, while Akumin provides outpatient diagnostic imaging services in eight states to 137 owned and/or operated imaging centers.

Akumin, which is based in Plantation, Fla. and counts a roughly $260 million valuation, purchased Alliance with the assumption of $700 million of debt and equity commitments from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners,a New York investment firm.

The integration facilitates substantial expansion for Akumin making it “the most comprehensive radiology and oncology solutions provider” in the U.S., the company said.

The acquisition will enable Akumin to expand its footprint from seven states to 46. Its workforce grows from 1,500 to 4,000.

“When we announced our acquisition of Alliance and the plan to bring these two great companies together, we shared our belief that this combination is very exciting in the context of a changing healthcare ecosystem— continuing not only to shift toward outpatient, price-transparent, value-based care, but also toward increasingly integrated hospitals, health systems and physician groups,” Akumin’s Co-Chief Executive Riadh Zine said in a statement.

“We celebrate our first steps together as a powerhouse in outpatient healthcare solutions, and a catalyst for continued healthcare transformation in the U.S.”

CO-CEOs

Rhonda Longmore-Grund, former CEO of Alliance, will remain on board as president and co-CEO of the combined companies.

Both Longmore-Grund and Zine will remain “actively involved” in running the combined company, expected to generate $730 million in revenue and $213 million in adjusted earnings.

“As one company, we will expand our solutions to hospital customers and partners with a focus on driving access, efficiency and innovation,” Longmore-Grund said in a statement. “We begin our integration today—and look forward to sharing our progress, successes and growth.”

Tahoe Investment Group, a China-based financial firm, sold Alliance after previously purchasing it for $178 million in 2017.

“We are looking forward to working with Tahoe, the Alliance seller, both as a shareholder and through Mr. Huang, their representative on our board of directors,” Zine said. “We are excited for our new partnership with Stonepeak, who provided their full support and capital commitment for this transaction, with additional capital available for future growth.”

The deal marks another chapter in the history of Alliance, which began as a mobile imaging company in 1983, and grew through radiology-focused acquisitions to become the nation’s largest provider of mobile MRI services by the late 1990s. It was purchased in 2001 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and subsequently raised $122 million in an initial public offering. It was later taken private.