Merge Extends Tender Offer

Merge Healthcare Inc. ( MRGE - Analyst Report ) has recently extended the tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of AMICAS Inc. ( ) common stock till Apr 23, 2010, unless further extended. The company has already received roughly 89.8% of AMICAS’ common stock till the scheduled expiration of the tender offer, which is Apr 15, 2010.

Merge is set to acquire AMICAS for $6.05 per share in cash, aggregating $248 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2010.

Merge took a number of initiatives in the past few months to arrange funding for the AMICAS acquisition. A few days ago, the company raised $41.75 million from fourteen institutional and other accredited investors through a private placement of preferred and common stock. Earlier, Merge obtained $200 million of bridge financing from Morgan Stanley ( MS - Analyst Report ) .

The successful acquisition of AMICAS will enable Merge to acquire one of its main competitors and widen its customer base. This will in turn expand the company’s top-line.

Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care by fusing business and clinical workflow, and intelligently managing and distributing diagnostic images and information throughout the healthcare enterprise.

Merge was paralyzed by several issues in the past like a dwindling cash balance, management turnover, accounting miscues and litigations. The real turnaround started from the second quarter of 2008 when the company receiveda much-needed cash infusion of $20 million from Merrick RIS LLC in May 2008.