HDL reaches agreement setting floor price for auction of its assets

Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. said on Friday that it has reached an agreement with Texas-based diagnostics company to set the floor price in an upcoming auction of HDL assets.

Richmond-based HDL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after reaching a $47 million settlement with the Justice Department over the company’s practice of paying doctors a $20 fee processing and handling fee for each blood sample it received. The company admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

HDL announced in June that it would put itself up for sale in a court-supervised auction.The company said Friday that True Health Diagnostics LLC, based in Frisco, Texas, will serve as the “stalking-horse bidder” in the sale, offering a first bid to buy substantially all of HDL’s assets for $32 million.

The ultimately successful bidder for HD  will be determined at the auction, scheduled to occur next Thursday (Sept. 10) at the Richmond office of Hunton & Williams. The law firm is HDL’s restructuring counsel. 

“We are pleased to reach this agreement with True Health,” Douglas Sbertoli, HFL’s executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statment. “This is the latest positive step in the ongoing bankruptcy process and is intended to help maximize the value of HDL Inc. and to facilitate a swift exit from the Chapter 11 proceedings for HDL Inc.’s core business.”

Sbertoli said HDL has been “encouraged by the widespread interest shown by numerous possible bidders for the company.” He added that the company’s normal operations would continue while the auction process takes place.

True Health, a privately held company,  specializes in advanced clinical laboratory testing, designed to help health-care providers in diagnosing, managing and preventing a number of medical conditions.