NME Plans to Repurchase 10 Million of Its Shares

National Medical Enterprises, which two months ago announced a major restructuring of its businesses, said Monday that it will buy back 10 million shares, or nearly one-eighth of its stock.

The stock repurchase was valued at $216.2 million, based on Monday’s closing price of $21.62 1/2, up 25 cents a share.

Earlier this year, NME reported plans to sell its health maintenance organization and several hospitals in order to focus on its nursing home, psychiatric and drug-abuse operations. Proceeds from the sale of those assets, along with short-term borrowing, will be used to finance the stock buyback, the company said.

The repurchase represents “a good investment . . . at this time,” Chairman and Chief Executive Richard K. Eamer said.

Separately, Los Angeles-based NME, the nation’s second-largest health services concern, said it will buy or lease 32 skilled nursing homes with 4,300 beds in eight states, hiking its current total of 66,000 beds by 6.5%.

Sixteen of the facilities will come from Memphis, Tenn.-based Care Inns, all of whose operations are being acquired by NME and the investor group. The remainder will come from Marion, Ind.-based U.S. Care.

Separately, another major health-care provider, Beverly Enterprises, said it has agreed to sell its Canadian operation because of limited opportunities to expand in that country. Beverly, headquartered in Pasadena, will sell its nine Canadian facilities to Versa-Care Ltd., a nursing home concern in Cambridge, Ontario, for an undisclosed price.