* Agrees to be taken pvt by Providence Equity Partners
* Deal at $17.25/shr represents 33 pct premium
* Virtual shares up 30 pct
May 17 (Reuters) - Radiology services provider Virtual Radiologic Corp VRAD.O said it agreed to be taken private by Providence Equity Partners for about $294 million in cash.
The offer price of $17.25 per share represents a premium of 33 percent over Virtual’s Friday close.
Virtual’s Chief Medical Officer Eduard Michel, who owns 6 of the company’s shares and is a co-founder of the company, and Generation Partners, which owns 25.3 percent of the shares, have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.
Goldman, Sachs & Co was serving as the financial advisor to Virtual Radiologic on the deal, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010, the healthcare company and the private-equity firm said in a joint statement.
Virtual is the second U.S. healthcare company that agreed to go private this month.
Earlier this month, pharmaceutical services provider InVentiv Health Inc VTIV.O agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners [THL.UL] for about $1.1 billion. [ID:nSGE6450NS]
Shares of Virtual were up 30 percent to $16.93 in morning trade on Nasdaq. They reached a high of $16.95 earlier in the session, just 30 cents shy of the offer price. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)
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