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Biotech / Medical : EYES (Vision Twenty-One, Inc.) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goordo who wrote (19)	4/11/1998 2:40:00 AM
From: goordo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 129

Vision Twenty-One looks to future with acquisitions By AMEET SACHDEV c St. Petersburg Times, published April 10, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <Picture: L>ARGO -- Vision Twenty-One Inc.'s furious buying spree netted two more optometry chains, setting the stage for explosive growth this year for the eye-care management company. Vision Twenty-One said Thursday it closed four deals at the end of March: 16 Stein Optical stores in Milwaukee and an affiliated insurer, and 19 Eye DRx outlets in northern New Jersey along with an optical lab. Largo-based Vision Twenty-One paid about $22.4-million in cash and stock for the companies. Vision Twenty-One will take a one-time charge of up to $500,000 in the first quarter, which ended March 31, for merger costs. "Our vision has been very consistent," said Theodore Gillette, the company's president, chairman and chief executive. "You have an industry going through consolidation, and we've enjoyed positioning ourselves in a leadership role in the industry." Indeed, analysts say Vision Twenty-One has almost no competition for acquisition opportunities in the highly fragmented eye care delivery market, valued at $31-billion. That puts the company in the catbird seat. "The company is doing a very nice job of identifying good acquisitions in the market and cohesively folding them into the organization," said Chris McFadden, an analyst with Wheat First Union in Richmond, Va. "A lot of health-care companies buy a lot of things haphazardly and don't do a good job of integrating." Vision Twenty-One provides eye care benefits in 27 states, up from six since it went public in August at $10 a share. Its stock closed Thursday at $10.50, down 121/2 cents. The buying frenzy has paved the way for torrid growth in 1998. McFadden forecasts that the company will have total revenues this year of nearly $200-million, up from $56.2-million in 1997. Analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. expect the company to earn 72 cents a share for the year. In 1997, Vision Twenty-One reported a net loss of $199,000, or 3 cents a share, excluding a one-time charge. Gillette said he is comfortable with the estimates. The acquisition of Stein Optical, a unit of Eye Care One, puts Vision Twenty-One in Wisconsin for the first time. The company already has a strong presence in neighboring Minnesota. Stein Optical and an affiliated insurer had combined revenues of $13.5-million in 1997. The Eye DRx chain and the optical lab had combined revenues of $19.1-million last year.