Ambea AB (publ) said it will acquire Scandinavian healthcare provider Aleris Care in a deal priced at 2.6 billion Swedish kronor on a debt-free basis.

The Swedish company, which also provides similar services, will buy the business from privately held Aleris AB to become one of the largest care providers in the Nordic region. Both Ambea and Aleris Care rank among the top healthcare providers in Sweden and Norway. Aleris Care also operates in Denmark, where it ranks as the largest private provider.

The deal's final price is expected to be 3 billion kronor depending on the privately held company's net cash at the time of closing, expected sometime in the first half of 2019.

The combined business is expected to save some 90 million kronor in costs annually, of which half are expected to be realized in 2019 and the remainder in 2020. Ambea said it has also identified certain operational improvements of about 30 million kronor which will be achieved in 2020.

The company added that it expects to record 35 million kronor in costs related to the acquisition during its fourth quarter, while another 100 million kronor in integration costs are expected to be recognized in 2019.

Ambea will fund the transaction through loans from Danske Bank, DNB and Nordea. It also plans to raise 1.2 billion kronor for the deal from its existing shareholders via a rights offering.

The company has called a meeting to seek approval for the offering and has already received backing from its majority shareholders ACTR Holding AB and privately held Actor S.C.A. who own 50.1% of Ambea and are controlled by investment firms KKR & Co. and Triton.

Nordea is acting as financial adviser, Vinge is serving as legal adviser, and Alvarez and Marsal is acting as financial due diligence adviser to Ambea in connection with the acquisition.

As of Oct. 15, US$1 was equivalent to 8.94 Swedish kronor.