LAFAYETTE, La., July 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LHC Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:LHCG), a national provider of home health, hospice and comprehensive post-acute healthcare services, announced today that it has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with Life Care Home Health, Inc. and its operating subsidiaries, headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee, to purchase 14 home health agencies across seven states for $10 million in cash. The transaction will increase LHC Group's geographical footprint to 352 locations across 30 states. The transaction, which is expected to close on September 1, 2014, subject to customary closing conditions, is anticipated to be accretive to LHC Group's 2015 earnings, with a neutral impact expected for 2014.
The combined service area of Life Care Home Health, Inc., which began its home health operations in 1996, includes 48 counties with an estimated 65 and older population of 2 million in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah and Washington. The states of Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington are Certificate of Need (CON) states. The home health agencies to be purchased produced revenues of approximately $28.5 million for each of the calendar year 2013 and the trailing twelve months ended in May 2014, with approximately 90% coming from Medicare.
Life Care Home Health, Inc. is a sister company of Life Care Centers of America, Inc., which provides nursing home care and long-term health care services for residents in a variety of settings, including skilled nursing homes, assisted living facilities, retirement living communities and home care.
"Life Care Home Health and Life Care Centers of America are two highly regarded healthcare companies who share a mission and culture similar to LHC Group, which is helping patients maintain the highest quality of life while contributing to the communities in which they serve," said Keith Myers, LHC Group chairman and CEO. "We welcome the healthcare professionals at Life Care Home Health to the LHC Group family and look forward to combining the best practices of each company with the talents and experiences of the Life Care Home Health clinicians to deliver high-quality care that allows patients to safely remain in the comfort of their homes across the 48 counties in these seven states we are honored to serve."
Forrest L. Preston, Chairman and CEO of Life Care Home Health, Inc. and Life Care Centers of America, Inc., added, "We know and respect LHC Group as a strong provider of high-quality healthcare services. As we pursue a primary strategic focus on our core facilities-based operations, we are very pleased to be selling these home health agencies to an organization that we are confident will continue to provide our patients outstanding care and service, while giving our agency employees a great place to continue their careers."
About LHC Group, Inc.
LHC Group, Inc. is a national provider of post-acute healthcare services, providing quality, cost-effective healthcare to patients within the comfort and privacy of their home or place of residence. LHC Group provides a comprehensive array of healthcare services through home health, hospice and community‑based services agencies in its home-based and hospice-based divisions and long-term acute care hospitals in its facility-based division.
Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about the Company's future financial performance and the strength of the Company's operations. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "continue," "expect," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including changes in reimbursement, changes in government regulations, changes in LHC Group's relationships with referral sources, increased competition for LHC Group's services, increased competition for joint venture and acquisition candidates, changes in the interpretation of government regulations and other risks set forth in Item 1A. Risk Factors in LHC Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. LHC Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.