Crothall Healthcare officially announced on Thursday the acquisition of CREST Services, a U.S. medical equipment maintenance provider.

The Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Crothall, which is owned by the multinational Compass Group Plc, provides a variety of services to health care organizations across the country, including facilities management, clinical equipment solutions, environmental services, patient transportation, and laundry.

"We are excited about adding CREST Services to Crothall's clinical equipment solutions (CES) operating division," said Steve Carpenter, president of Crothall Healthcare, in a prepared statement. "CREST is a well-known, high-quality clinical equipment service company with strong leadership. We believe that our cultures align and that the people of CREST Services will become valuable additions to our teams."

CREST Services, based in Coppell, Texas provides maintenance for anesthesia, sterilizers, imaging, CT/MR, biomedical services, and volume leveraging procurement.

CREST president Brian Montgomery commented: "I am convinced that our employees will have ample opportunity to grow within Crothall, and that this decision will take us all to the next level. Together, we will be able to realize a number of competitive advantages within the marketplace."

According to the statement from Crothall, the acquisition will increase the company's CES footprint through CREST's customer base in the U.S., particularly in Texas and the Southwest, as well as grow its clinical equipment division and diagnostic imaging capabilities.

The transaction was finalized on December 20, 2012. Crothall Healthcare, a direct competitor with Aramark, made the official announcement after first-quarter earnings came out earlier this week. According to Bloomberg News, Compass Group reported "faster first-quarter sales growth than analysts' estimate, as 'strong' gains in North America offset tougher conditions in Europe and Japan."

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