July 24th, 2007
Patient Safety Technologies considers selling SurgiCount
PATIENT Safety Technologies Inc., a struggling Los Angeles-based maker of patient safety products, is considering an unsolicited buyout offer for its potentially most profitable unit.
The holding company, which has faced repeated Amex delisting warnings, said last month it had received an offer from an unnamed party for an undisclosed amount for its SurgiCount Medical Inc. subsidiary. The unit makes a bar-code scanning device designed to keep track of surgical sponges and towels. It’s designed to reduce medical errors by reducing the chance that easily overlooked items are left in a patient’s body.
Patient Safety had announced in early October that it planned to spin off the unit, which has a growing number of customers around the country, and its board has agreed to evaluate the bid. It plans to hire an outside, unaffiliated investment banking firm to advise it.
The company, formerly known as Franklin Capital Corp., has undergone a tumultuous series of , changes in business strategy and management since Milton “Todd” Ault III, who runs a Los Angeles private investment company, gained a significant stake in the company in early 2004.
Patient Safety had announced in early October that it planned to spin off the unit, which has a growing number of customers around the country, and its board has agreed to evaluate the bid. It plans to hire an outside, unaffiliated investment banking firm to advise it.
The company, formerly known as Franklin Capital Corp., has undergone a tumultuous series of , changes in business strategy and management since Milton “Todd” Ault III, who runs a Los Angeles private investment company, gained a significant stake in the company in early 2004.