JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African private hospital operator Life Healthcare on Monday announced the sale of its radiopharmaceuticals business LMI to U.S.-listed Lantheus Holdings, sending its Johannesburg-listed shares higher.
Life Healthcare said it had entered into binding agreements with an entity owned by Lantheus to sell its entire stake in Life Molecular Imaging (LMI) for an upfront payment of $350 million and potential earnout payments of a further $400 million linked to future sales of LMI products up to 2034.
Radiopharmaceuticals are a new class of cancer drugs that deliver radiation therapy directly and specifically to cancer cells.
Life Healthcare shares were up by more than 3% at 1011 GMT.
The hospital operator has been selling some assets to try to reduce its operating complexity. It bought LMI in 2018 as part of its investment in the Alliance Medical Group.
“Lantheus is uniquely positioned to invest in and grow LMI’s portfolio of imaging assets and ensure that the business meets its growth potential,” it said in a statement on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alexander Winning and Louise Heavens)
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