Merge to enter ophthalmic imaging market by purchasing OIS
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Merge Healthcare, a specialist in automated healthcare data and diagnostic workflow technology, has definitively agreed to buy Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS), an ophthalmic digital imaging and informatics company, for around $30.3m. Under the terms of the deal, OIS shareholders will receive 0.1693 Merge shares – equivalent to $1 – for each OIS share. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. Until now, Chicago, Illinois-based Merge has offered imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology and orthopaedics, a suite of products for clinical trials, software for financial and presurgical patient management, and applications for other vendors of imaging products. It identified ophthalmology as an important growth area, as demand for eye imaging is increasing due to factors such as the ageing population.