Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The sale of Eastman Kodak's health division was one of the most anticipated events in medical imaging. But when the group's buyer was announced yesterday, many imaging professionals had to hit the Web to learn more about Onex Healthcare Holdings, the Canadian investment firm that has agreed to pay up to $2.55 billion for the Rochester, NY, group.
Turns out that Onex is already familiar with medical imaging, being the owner of Center for Diagnostic Imaging of Minneapolis, which runs 38 imaging centers throughout the U.S. Onex decided to purchase Kodak's Health Group because it sees significant growth potential for the business, according to company executives.
Kodak will be the seventh healthcare company that Onex has acquired in the last four years, with the firm's other ventures operating in fields ranging from long-term care to emergency medicine.
Will Onex be able to help Kodak better manage the transition from analog film to digital PACS? Will pulling the division from the shadow of a struggling consumer-products firm help it refocus on meeting the needs of healthcare professionals? What will happen to the Kodak brand -- which has a history in radiology that spans back to Roentgen's time? Only time will tell.
Until then, get the rest of the scoop on what's been the biggest story in medical imaging so far in 2007 by reading staff writer Erik L. Ridley's article, available here.
Kodak wasn't the only company getting busy on the M&A front this week, with rival Fujifilm Medical Systems USA of Stamford, CT, announcing today its purchase of Problem Solving Concepts (ProSolv) of Indianapolis. Get the details on that deal by clicking here.
Both stories -- and more news about the fast-changing world of PACS -- are available in our PACS Digital Community, at pacs.auntminnie.com.
