Apria Explores Possible Company Sale

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Apria Healthcare Group Inc. said it hired Morgan Stanley as a first step toward possibly being acquired, sending its shares surging more than 15 percent.


Lake Forest-based Apria tapped Morgan Stanley to contact possible suitors for the company. The company said several parties have approached it about a possible acquisition, among them private equity firms interested in its cash flow.


According to a story in the New York Post Tuesday, insiders speculated that a private-equity firm could pay as much as $2.5 billion for Apria. Apria then issued a statement to respond to the story, cautioning that there is no guarantee that it will sell the company.


Last summer, Apria held talks with The Blackstone Group and other private equity firms about a possible takeover.


Apria, which provides breathing treatment and other services to patients in their homes, has a market value of $1.8 billion. The company has been a rather busy buyer itself lately, spending nearly $28 million to buy seven companies during the first quarter.


The company was formed in 1995 via the combination of Costa Mesa-based Abbey Healthcare Group Inc. and Fountain Valley-based Homedco Group Inc.


Apria’s shares were up 15.2 percent to $36.30 in early afternoon trading Tuesday.



*Michael Lyster from the Orange County Business Journal contributed to this story.

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