Navigator to form biggest long-term care GPO after Extendicare acquisition

Extendicare Real Estate Investment Trust announced Monday that U.S. subsidiary, Extendicare Health Services, Inc., had agreed to sell its group purchasing organization (GPO) to Navigator Group Purchasing, a subsidiary of Managed Health Care Associates, Inc., for $56 million.

The deal is Managed Health Care Associates’ third large-scale GPO acquisition within the past year. The company announced it had acquired Navigator, Inc., in late December 2010, and then Tidewater GPO this past May.

“We believe that Navigator will be the largest GPO in the country servicing long-term care facilities when this transaction closes,” said Doug Present, CEO of Managed Health Care Associates, in a statement.

The sale of Extendicare’s UHF Purchasing Services and Star Purchasing Services, LLC, which serve the long-term and post-acute care space, is expected to close early next year with an after-tax gain of approximately $32 million.

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