CCRN Cross Country Health

ATLANTA, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Croft & Bender, an Atlanta-based investment banking firm, served as the financial advisor to Norcross, Ga.-based MDA Holdings, Inc. (Medical Doctor Associates) in the recent sale of substantially all of MDA's assets to Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN). According to Cross Country, the transaction is valued at $112.3 million in cash, plus additional earn-out payments based on 2008 and 2009 performance criteria, plus a working capital adjustment. Headquartered in Norcross, with regional offices in Dallas and Denver, MDA provides multi-specialty locum tenens (physician) and allied staffing services to the healthcare industry in all 50 states. MDA has approximately 250 employees and reported revenues and EBITDA of $158.0 million and $13.3 million, respectively, in 2007. MDA was founded by Ken Shumard in 1987. In 2004 he sold 100 percent of the company to current and future MDA employees through a newly-formed Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and continued to serve as the company's board chairman until it was acquired by Cross Country. Cross Country is a leading provider of nurse and allied staffing services in the U.S., a national provider of multi-specialty locum tenens and allied staffing services, a provider of clinical trials services to global pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, as well as a provider of other human capital management services focused on healthcare. "We appreciated Croft & Bender's help as we navigated through this process. Their advice and counsel was invaluable," said Mike Pretiger, MDA's Chief Financial Officer. "We were thrilled to be a part of this transaction for MDA and its employee-owners. This outcome served as a great case study on how ESOPs should work," commented Steve Tye, Director of Croft & Bender. MDA was advised from a legal perspective by Denny Summers and Andy Cataldo of McGuireWoods LLP, Atlanta. About Croft & Bender Croft & Bender LLC, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is an investment banking firm focused on providing M&A, private equity and financial advisory services to middle-market and emerging growth companies in the Southeast. The firm also sponsors the C&B Capital growth equity funds, with $44 million under management. For more information on Croft & Bender, visit http://www.croft-bender.com/ or contact the firm at (404) 841-3131. DATASOURCE: Croft & Bender LLC CONTACT: Edward S. Croft, III, Managing Director, +1-404-841-0055, , or Theodore J. Bender, III, Managing Director, +1-404-841-0053, , both of Croft & Bender LLC Web site: http://www.croft-bender.com/

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