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Medical Facilities Corporation Announces Approval of Normal Course Issuer Bid

^{Published on 2011-05-02 12:50:45 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, May 2 /CNW/ - Medical Facilities Corporation ("Medical Facilities" or the "Company") (TSX: DR.UN), announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved its notice of intention to make a normal course issuer bid for up to 851,437 of its outstanding income participating securities ("IPSs")(TSX: DR.UN), representing 3% of the number of 28,381,250 IPSs issued and outstanding as of May 2, 2011 (treating the 11,200 separated IPSs as having been recombined for the purpose of this calculation). If the proposed conversion from the Company's IPS units to a traditional common share structure (the "Recapitalization") is successfully completed, the normal course issuer bid would become a bid for the common shares ("Common Shares") issued in exchange for IPSs under the Recapitalization. The Company may purchase the IPSs (or Common Shares) at prevailing market prices during the period from May 4, 2011 to May 3, 2012. Purchases will be made at market prices in accordance with the rules and policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Subject to the Toronto Stock Exchange's block purchase exceptions, daily purchases will be limited to 13,825 IPSs (or, post-Recapitalization, Common Shares) on any trading day. All securities purchased by Medical Facilities under the normal course issuer bid will be cancelled.  In the past 12 months, the Company has repurchased an aggregate of 107,200 IPSs at a weighted average price of $9.24.

Medical Facilities believes that from time to time, the market price of its publicly-traded securities may not reflect their underlying value and that the purchase of its securities may represent an appropriate and desirable use of Company funds. Medical Facilities intends to fund the purchases out of available cash.

About Medical Facilities
Medical Facilities owns controlling interests in four specialty surgical hospitals, located in South Dakota and Oklahoma, as well as an ambulatory surgery center in California. The specialty hospitals perform scheduled surgical, imaging and diagnostic procedures, and derive their revenue from the fees charged for the use of their facilities. The ambulatory surgery center specializes in outpatient surgical procedures, with patient stays of less than 24 hours. Medical Facilities is structured so that a majority of its free cash flow from operations is distributed to holders of its IPS units, of which a portion is interest on subordinated debt and a portion is dividend.  For more information, please visit [ www.medicalfacilitiescorp.ca ].

Caution concerning forward-looking statements
Statements made in this news release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be forward-looking and therefore subject to various risks and uncertainties. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may", "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.  Factors that could cause results to vary include those identified in Medical Facilities' filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities such as legislative or regulatory developments, intensifying competition, technological change and general economic conditions. All forward-looking statements presented herein should be considered in conjunction with such filings.  Medical Facilities does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements; such statements speak only as of the date made.