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Key Stats on Home Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions for 10-Year Period Ended December 31, 2009 Generated by DealSearchOnline.com

The buyers in home health care mergers and acquisitions announced during the 10 years ended December 31, 2009 were represented primarily by home health care companies, but also included private equity groups as well as some long-term care, hospice, behavioral health care, pharmaceutical and other types of companies. Among acquirers that were responsible for multiple mergers and acquisitions of home health care companies during the years 2000 to 2009, Amedisys was the acquirer in 52 of these deals; LHC Group was the acquirer in 40; Odyssey HealthCare Inc., 31; Option Care, Inc. 28; Almost Family, Inc., 16; Apria Healthcare Group, 15 and Gentiva Health Services, 15.

Privately held companies represented the majority (81%) of the targets in home health care mergers and acquisitions announced during the 10-year period ended December 31, 2009, while the targets were represented by nonprofit entities in 10% and publicly traded companies in 9% of these deals. Publicly traded companies were the buyers in most (74%) of the mergers and acquisitions of home health care companies announced during the same 10-year period, while privately held companies were on the buy-side in 22% of those transactions and nonprofit entities represented the buyer in the rest.

Among mergers and acquisitions of home health care companies announced during the 10-year period ended December 31, 2009, many (51%) of the companies targeted were producing disclosed revenues. The company that posted the greatest revenues among these deals was Apria Healthcare Group, which had generated revenue of $1.77 billion on a trailing 12-month basis at the time its acquisition by Blackstone Group was announced. Apria was trailed by Option Care, which had generated revenue of $716.0 million on a trailing 12-month basis at the time its acquisition by Walgreen was announced.

Florida, California, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Tennessee and Arizona were the states where the highest numbers of targets were located among home health care mergers and acquisitions announced during the 10 years ended December 31, 2009. For the same 10-year period, the states representing the home base of the acquirers in the greatest number of home health care mergers and acquisitions included Texas, where Odyssey HealthCare is based; Louisiana, where LHC Group and Amedisys are based; Kentucky, where Almost Family and ResCare are based; Illinois, where Option Care is based; Florida, where Lincare is based; and California, where Apria Healthcare is based.

In terms of dollars committed, 2008 was the most active year during the 10-year period ended December 31, 2009, with $2.4 billion in home health care mergers and acquisitions announced, followed by 2007 with $1.7 billion. For the same period, the greatest number of home health care mergers and acquisitions announced in one year was 73, in 2005; the next-greatest was 56, in 2006.

The top 25 mergers and acquisitions of home health care companies announced during the 10-year period ended December 31, 2009, based on the dollar value of the transactions, accounted for nearly 82% of the total amount of capital committed to fund all home health care mergers and acquisitions announced during that period. The five largest deals of the decade were: the acquisition of Apria by Blackstone Group, the acquisition of Option Care by Walgreen; the $454 million acquisition of The Healthfield Group by Gentiva Health Services, announced in 2006; the $406 million acquisition of Vitas Healthcare Group by Roto-Rooter, announced in 2003; and the $396 million acquisition of TLC Health Care Services by Amedisys, announced in 2008. Amedisys was also the acquirer in two other deals among the top 25: the acquisition of Housecall Medical Resources for $106.8 million and the acquisition of IntegriCare for $68 million.

Information in this press release is based on data drawn from DealSearchOnline.com, an online publication of Irving Levin Associates, Inc. Online and available 24/7 at www.dealsearchonline.com, DealSearchOnline.com is a database of current and historic health care mergers and acquisitions, with deal summaries on more than 15,000 mergers and acquisitions since 1993 in the following sectors: Behavioral Health Care; Biotechnology; e-Health; Home Health Care; Hospitals; Laboratories, MRI and Dialysis; Long Term Care; Managed Care; Medical Devices; Pharmaceuticals; Physician Medical Groups; Rehabilitation; and Other Health Care Services. Deal summaries include details such as deal terms, target and acquirer contact information (including e-mail addresses), and price to revenue multiples. Searching is free and detailed deal summaries are immediately available for download or to print, through payment with a credit card or the purchase of a subscription. For a login, visit www.dealsearchonline.com. Certain Irving Levin Associates, Inc. print publications include special online access to the database for subscribers. Call 1-800-248-1668 for details on subscription options, or email customerservice@levinassociates.com.

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Irving Levin Associates, Inc.
Sanford B. Steever, Ph.D., Editor
Gretchen S. Swanson, Analyst
Phone: 203-846-6800
Fax: 203-846-8300