Merge makes move to explore sale

Merge Healthcare has retained Allen & Company, an investment bank, to assist in exploring and evaluating a range of strategic alternatives, including, but not limited to, a sale of the company or a business combination.

Merge, which is based in Chicago, does not have a definitive timeline for the strategic review, and there can be no assurance that the review will result in any specific action or transaction, according to a company statement.

The developer of enterprise imaging and interoperability technologies delved further into the imaging informatics space in April 2010 with the acquisition of PACS giant Amicas. Following that merger, Merge posted a net loss of nearly $31 million in 2010, which the company partly attributed to the acquisition costs.

Despite posting continued sales growth, the company reported a net loss of $10 million for the fiscal year of 2011 and a net loss of $5.9 million in second quarter 2012.