Assure Holdings Corp. , a provider of intraoperative neuromonitoring services (“IONM”), is pleased to announce that it has completed the previously announced acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of all of the assets (the “Acquired Assets”) of Sentry Neuromonitoring, LLC (“Sentry”), one of the largest IONM service providers in Texas.
As a result of the closing of the Acquisition, the Company raised its guidance for full-year 2021 total procedures from 14,000 to 17,000. This number represents an anticipated increase in cases of more than 70% compared with 2020 and an increase of 165% since 2019.
Assure Holdings acquired Sentry, a Joint Commission certified IONM company primarily serving the Greater Houston region. Sentry’s operational footprint also extends within Texas to Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin and includes business relationships in Kansas and Missouri. In 2020, Sentry performed more than 5,500 IONM procedures and approximately 50% of these procedures were with commercial insurance payors. The company employs 33 full-time staff, including 21 technologists supporting more than 50 surgeons at approximately 50 facilities.
John A. Farlinger, Assure Holdings executive chairman and CEO said, “This acquisition is consistent with our strategic plan to create scale by augmenting our organic growth with accretive M&A opportunities. Assure’s existing presence in Texas provided the Company with valuable insight on how we can maximize surgeon relationships to win new business, improve collections and leverage scale to negotiate new in-network agreements with payors in the local market.”
Farlinger continued, “This Acquisition is expected to improve our financial position. In 2020, on an unaudited basis, Sentry generated approximately $5 million of cash receipts from revenue. As a result of this acquisition, we expect to unlock additional business opportunities in Texas, Missouri and Kansas. Further, we intend to improve Sentry’s historic per procedure revenue in 2021 and beyond.”
Farlinger added, “The final terms for this acquisition are favorable from a payment schedule and cost of capital perspective. We are pleased that Assure shareholders will benefit from this accretive transaction.”
Farlinger concluded, “I want to officially welcome the Sentry team to the Assure family. We have already made substantial progress executing our integration plan.”
Ken Sly, Sentry Neuromonitoring’s CEO, said, “We chose to join Assure because we share a commitment to clinical excellence and an exceptional standard of patient care. With the scale, resources and expertise that Assure provides, we expect to bring additional surgeons onto the platform in Texas and elsewhere.”
Pursuant to the Acquisition, and as consideration for the Acquired Assets, Assure will pay US$3,500,000 to Sentry (the “Purchase Price”). The Purchase Price shall be satisfied by: (i) a cash payment of US$1,225,000, which shall be paid over a three-year period, and (ii) the issuance of 1,660,583 common shares in the capital of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a deemed price of US$1.37 per share. The Common Shares will be subject to the statutory hold periods required under applicable securities legislation and the issuance of the Common Shares to Sentry remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”). For further details on the Acquisition please refer to the Company’s news release dated February 25, 2021.