What do you get when three niche companies combine? A medical equipment service powerhouse.

This week, Medical Imaging Holdings, Inc., formed by Galen Partners, acquired the Sonora Medical Systems business from Misonix, Inc. Sonora joins Barrington Medical Imaging and Echoserve under the new umbrella. The new firm, which may get its brand name as soon as this month, benefited from investment by Galen Partners, a leading health care private equity firm.

Sonora Medical Systems is known for testing equipment and R&D in ultrasound and other technologies.
"What we are talking about is fresh and unique, taking a step back and looking at the market. It's not developing a company that is just going to offer a cheap alternative in field service, equipment or life cycle maintenance. But it's really taking a different and fresh look at the actual needs: What have we learned from service over these many years?" said G. Wayne Moore," founder of Sonora and President, Advanced Development Group and Chief Strategy Officer for the combined company.

"The OEMs still have a huge percentage of the service contract capture rate...but third parties are tackling some of the tougher issues with the newer technologies," he told DOTmed. He said of the investors, "They combine a great MRI field service group with Barrington; they brought in Echoserve which has focused on field service in the mammography and ultrasound space; and what they lacked was an R&D and product development engine, which is what Sonora is. So they have really combined those three companies and it is going to translate into an entirely different and fresh approach to how service is delivered in this country to medical imaging devices."

Not all the financial details of the deals were disclosed, although Misonix issued a press release reporting that all of the assets of its subsidiary, Acoustic Marketing Research, Inc., DBA Sonora Medical Systems, were sold to Medical Imaging Holdings, Inc., for $8 million in cash.

The three entities are expected to maintain their facilities and staffs, including a significant corps of dozens of field service engineers in major U.S. markets, DOTmed News has learned. Two of the three companies--Echoserve and Sonora--are based in Golden, Colorado, with Barrington near Chicago.

Investors Go After the Aftermarket

The merger and acquisition of three modality-focused medical equipment service companies seems aimed at serving two masters--the urgency to cut health care costs and the imperative of keeping equipment in service longer, yet with superior operation.

More Industry Headlines