MEDICAL

An investor group led by a San Francisco investment banking firm has bought Orange-based National Medical Homecare, one of the nation’s largest home-care equipment chains, from its parent company, National Medical Enterprises Inc. of Los Angeles.

Dennis Walsh, NMH’s national sales manager, said the amount for which the company is being sold will probably be disclosed after the transaction is completed next week.

Walsh said the investment group, called NMH Holdings Corp., is led by the investment banking firm of Robertson Colman & Stephens, which is obtaining financing from Heller Financial Inc., a unit of Fuji Bank Ltd., Tokyo, and the Glenfed Capital Corp. unit of Glen Fed. Inc. of Glendale.

In addition, he said, “the vast majority” of NMH’s top managers are part of the purchasing group and will continue to operate the company. Jeremy Jones will stay on as NMH president.

Enterprise Partners, a venture capital firm in Newport Beach, will also invest in the acquisition, Walsh said.

National Medical Enterprises is selling its home health care business along with several other money losing enterprises as part of a major reorganization, Walsh said. He added that in its last fiscal year National Medical Homecare, which has 2,600 employees and 145 outlets in 40 states, reported large losses on $200 million in revenue. The losses were attributed in part to uncollectable accounts receivable. But this year, he said, the company is operating in the black. He would not disclose specific profit and loss figures for either year.