LabCorp to Purchase PA Labs

PA Labs, LLC (PA Labs), Cardinal Health System, Inc. (CHS), Cardinal Health Ventures, Inc. (CHV) and East Central Indiana Pathologists, Inc. (ECIP) have entered into a definitive agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (NYSE: LH) under which LabCorp will acquire certain assets of the clinical and anatomic laboratory business of Muncie-based PA Labs, officials announced today. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007. Until then, PA Labs and LabCorp will continue to operate under their respective names and structures, and customers and patients should not see any changes. PA Labs has provided laboratory services to Ball Memorial Hospital since its inception, and that will continue to be a fundamental relationship prior to and after the closing.

There are no plans to make significant changes in staffing levels or service locations after the closing. Although it is anticipated that some redundant positions will be eliminated over time, open positions may be available at other LabCorp sites for affected employees.

Both companies are committed to maintain a strong presence in Indiana. PA Labs and LabCorp share an emphasis on the highest quality customer service, which will ensure that customers and their patients will benefit from having access to LabCorp’s national laboratory network and expanded menu of tests and related services, while preserving their local relationship with PA Labs. Customers will also receive added benefits from LabCorp’s scientific advances in areas such as genomic testing.

Pathologists Associated was established in 1966 as an independent hospital laboratory in Muncie, Ind., by four Ball Memorial Hospital pathologists who had a strong desire to retain independence as a pathology group. In the early 1970s, Pathologists Associated began to seek work outside the hospital to bolster its position as an independent laboratory.

Pathologists Associated joined with Ball Memorial Hospital Laboratory in September 1988 in a joint venture to create PA Labs. The company’s headquarters and main testing facility are located in Muncie.
PA Labs’ Patient Service Centers are in Fort Wayne, Muncie, Indianapolis, Evansville, Anderson, Angola, Churubusco, Grabill, Lafayette, Noblesville, Vincennes, Warsaw and Zionsville.

Headquartered in Burlington, N.C., LabCorp has been a provider of laboratory services in Indiana for more than 25 years. The company employs approximately 140 people in Indiana and operates multiple patient service centers in various Indiana locations. LabCorp, an S&P 500 company, is a pioneer in commercializing new diagnostic technologies and the first in its industry to embrace genomic testing.

With annual revenues of $3.6 billion in 2006, more than 25,000 employees nationwide, and more than 220,000 clients, LabCorp offers clinical assays ranging from routine blood analyses to HIV and genomic testing.

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