Tribal Grp. Regulatory News (TRB)

21 Dec 2006 14:18

Tribal Group PLC21 December 2006 21 December 2006 Tribal Group plc ("Tribal") Announcement of financial close on NHS West Midlands diagnostic contract Following the announcement in July 2006 of its selection as preferred bidder,Tribal is pleased to announce that its healthcare delivery business, MercuryHealth, has today reached financial close on a five year contract to deliver arange of diagnostic services to NHS patients in the West Midlands. The contractis one of seven regional contracts to be awarded as part of the Phase 2Independent Sector Treatment Centre programme. Under the contract, Mercury Health will deliver a range of diagnostic servicescovering imaging (principally MRI, ultrasound and CT), endoscopy and audiology.These services will be provided using mobile diagnostic centres that willoperate from approximately fifty sites across the West Midlands. The sitesinclude the car park areas of sports grounds, football clubs and supermarketsand Mercury Health will therefore be able to offer the 5.5 million residents ofthe West Midlands an easily accessible and local service. Services are due to start from April 2007 and Mercury Health expects to be fullyoperational by the end of May 2007. Mercury Health will be providing up to190,000 procedures annually. Key supply partners include GE, Siemens, BT andEuromedic, a leading European diagnostic company that will be providingreporting services to support Mercury Health's imaging activities. The funding requirements to implement and operate the contract total £26.4million. £16.0 million is required for medical equipment and mobile trailers andwill be satisfied through lease arrangements with GE Finance and Bank ofScotland Corporate Asset Finance. The balance of £10.4 million is required forimplementation and working capital purposes and will be satisfied by Tribal fromits cash resources and existing bank facilities. In addition, Tribal and MercuryHealth have provided certain guarantee and security arrangements in connectionwith the contract. Henry Pitman, Tribal's Chief Executive, commented: "We are delighted to havereached financial close on this contract. It is an important step in the furtherdevelopment of Mercury Health as a leading independent sector provider ofclinical services to the NHS. We look forward to providing high quality, fastand convenient access to diagnostic procedures for NHS patients in the WestMidlands". Ends For further information, please contact: Henry Pitman, Chief Executive - 01285 886020Simon Lawton, Group Finance Director - 01285 886020Peter Martin, Chief Executive, Mercury Health - 0118 952 1900 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange