Emergency Medical Services goes private for $3.2B

NEW YORK (AP) - Ambulance services provider Emergency Medical Services Corp. says it will sell itself to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice at a discounted price of $64 per share, or about $3.2 billion.

EMS says its board has accepted the offer, which comes at a 9.4 percent discount to its Friday closing price of $70.66. EMS expects the sale to close in the second quarter pending approval from shareholders and regulators.

The company is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo., and it transports patients to hospitals in ambulances and with air transports. It also runs a physician outsourcing business.

EMS says Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank Securities, BofA Merrill Lynch, affiliates of Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank have committed financing to help Clayton, Dubilier & Rice close the deal.