Toronto firm to buy majority stake in Arkansas Surgical Hospital

Medical Facilities Corp. of Toronto said Wednesday that it has entered a deal to acquire a 51 percent stake in Arkansas Surgical Hospital LLC for about $36.2 million.

Arkansas Surgical Hospital’s 14 physician-owners will retain a 49 percent interest in the hospital, but 5 percent will be exchangeable for common shares of Medical Facilities, the Canadian company said in a statement.

The hospital, at 5201 Northshore Drive in North Little Rock, performs orthopedic, spine, breast cancer and cosmetic surgeries.

The acquisition is expected to be completed Nov. 30, Medical Facilities said. The purchase has been approved by the boards of both the Toronto corporation and the surgical hospital.

Medical Facilities owns four specialty surgical hospitals in South Dakota and Oklahoma, plus an ambulatory surgery center in California, it said.

"Arkansas Surgical Hospital is highly regarded for the quality of its care and services,” Medical Facilities Chief Executive Officer Donald Schellpfeffer said in a statement. “This transaction is consistent with our stated strategy to grow distributable cash by identifying and executing accretive acquisitions in what remains a highly fragmented industry. The acquisition of [Arkansas Surgical Hospital] provides significant diversification benefits and is immediately accretive to Medical Facilities.”

Separately Wednesday, Medical Facilities reported that it earned $1.7 million, or 15 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter, a 92 percent decline from its net income of $21.7 million, or 56 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2011.

This was despite a revenue increase of about 7 percent, the company said.

Medical Facilities attributed the decline to an increase in interest liability and in the value of its convertible secured debentures, which gained $14.8 million in value in the quarter, compared with a decline in value of $18.1 million in the third quarter last year.

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