Imatron sells two more HeartScan centers

Less than a month after it agreed to sell its South San Francisco HeartScan center, Imatron has found a buyer for two of its remaining three facilities. The South San Francisco ultrafast CT developer signed an agreement March 22 with Newport Beach, CA-based firm Vital Imaging Companies for the sale of its Houston and Washington, DC, coronary artery disease risk-assessment centers. Imatron expects the sale to close by March 31.

Imatron sold the South San Francisco center Feb. 25 to Imaging Technology Group, also of South San Francisco, for $1.5 million in cash (SCAN 3/17/99). The sale represented a shift in Imatron's corporate strategy: Rather than trying to sell the HeartScan subsidiary whole, the company decided to sell each center individually.

Vital Imaging Companies includes Vital Imaging, a California firm that is not related to 3-D workstation developer Vital Images of Minneapolis. Vital Imaging intends to establish a network of facilities in major cities across the U.S., and plans to open a center this August in San Diego, according to Richard King, chairman and CEO. Vital Imaging would like to expand the scope of service at its centers to include full-body scans and open MRI, King said.