Unilab to Divest Itself of Offices in Other States

Unilab Corp., a Tarzana-based provider of medical testing services, said it plans to sell its non-California offices to one of its major stockholders, Corning Inc., in exchange for a sharp cut in Unilab’s debt.

Unilab operates labs in Tarzana, Sacramento, San Jose, Denver, Phoenix and Dallas. Under the restructuring plan, Unilab would keep the California outlets, and Corning would get the other offices and assume $70 million of Unilab’s $93 million in current debt.

Corning, a Corning, N.Y.-based maker of glass and communications products and a provider of laboratory services, also would cut its equity ownership of Unilab to about 12% from the current 43%. Corning also would transfer its J.S. Pathology PLC unit, a British operation, to Unilab.

Then, in a separate transaction, Unilab said it would jointly participate in a new European clinical lab company with a Swiss concern named Unilabs Holdings SA, which currently has no relation to Unilab Corp. Unilab, among other things, would contribute J.S. Pathology to the new venture.

Both transactions are subject to approval by Unilab’s stockholders.

Meanwhile, Unilab said one-time asset writeoffs and other charges of $90.4 million led to a $98-million net loss for the company in 1992, compared with a $567,000 profit the prior year. Unilab’s annual revenue rose to $213.9 million from $204.2 million.

Unilab’s California operations alone had revenue of $128.7 million in 1992.