| Alliance Medical group is the largest provider
of outsourced diagnostic services in Europe owning and operating
104 diagnostic systems in the UK, Italy and Spain as well as renting
out 14 additional unmanned scanners on an interim basis throughout
Europe.
Alliance Medical was formed in 1989 by Robert Waley-Cohen, who
had previously co-founded Alliance Imaging Inc. in the USA in 1983.
The Company’s first mobile scanner commenced operation in
the UK in 1990 and in 1994 the Company was approached by Nuffield
Hospitals to take over the operation of three static MRI systems
already installed in their hospitals.
After a management buy-out in 1996, backed by 3i plc and Foreign
& Colonial, Alliance Medical started sending mobile scanners
to Italy in 1998 and formed a joint venture with ETF in 1999, Italy’s
only supplier of mobile diagnostic services. During 2000 3i and
Foreign & Colonial decided to realize their investment against
a background of increasing growth opportunities and consequently
investment requirements. Bridgepoint Capital purchased their equity
in a secondary buy-out in 2001. A new division, Interim services,
was established later in 2001 for short-term rental of MRI, CT,
Cardiac Cath and PET units across Europe.
In 2002, Alliance Medical acquired 100% ownership of the Italian
company, Alliance Diagnostic and formed a joint venture company
in Spain, Alliance Viamed SL. PET division was established in 2002
and formed a joint venture to deliver PET traces for its first newly
acquired mobile PET and the first fixed PET/CT unit for the prestigious
new imaging centre, Alliance Medical Imaging Centre, in London.
In 2003, a mobile PET/CT Scanner (the first such unit in Europe)
has been ordered to operate in the UK. This makes a total of 3 PET
mobiles and 1 PET/CT between the UK and Italy. During this year,
Alliance Medical (UK) has been appointed the preferred bidder in
three Independent Treatment Centre schemes across the UK. By year-end
2003, Alliance Medical group operates a total of 65 mobile diagnostic
units across Europe and 37 diagnostic systems in private and public
diagnostic centres between the UK and Italy. These include Cardiac
Catheterisation, MRI, PET & PET/CT, CT and Mammography systems.
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