Laser surgery provider Optimax has bought rival company Ultralase for an undisclosed sum following months of negotiations and both are now held in the Ultralase Optimax Group.
This follows a report in The Daily Mail (01.12.12) where Optimax founder Russell Ambrose expressed an interest in purchasing Ultralase. The report stated that 'troubled Ultralase was put up for sale earlier in this year by its bank owners, headed by RBS and Barclays, just two years after a pre-pack administration saw the lenders take control of the private equity-owned company'.
The laser surgery market was estimated to have fallen by 40 per cent since the recession, while Ambrose said that a price war was taking place, with people haggling to get even lower prices.
Ultralase stated on Twitter that it was 'secure following sale and has a great future as part of a combined Ultralase Optimax Group', adding that there would be continuity of care under the group umbrella via either an Ultralase or Optimax clinic and the Ultralase Lifetime Care Guarantee would continue to be valid. It claimed that the enlarged group was 'now the biggest and most experienced laser provider in the UK with experience of over 600,000 treatments'.
Ambrose told Optician: 'Ultralase has been unprofitable for many years and although I have had to close some clinics, I have been able to preserve 14 of their clinics and retain a hundred and ten jobs. Optimax clinics are unaffected.'