HEALTH CARE : Two Executives Who Sold Holdings Miss Big Payoffs in Merger Plans

There’s plenty of talk about top executives cashing in on merger mania among corporate giants of the health care industry. But some aren’t making all they could.

The top brass at Homedco Group Inc. in Fountain Valley might have collected bigger gains on what turned into a proposed merger with Abbey Healthcare Group Inc. in neighboring Costa Mesa.

Just weeks before the home health-care companies revealed their merger plans March 2, Homedco’s chairman, Jeremy M. Jones, sold 49,239 shares, or 10% of his holdings, and the company’s president, Frank P. Schyving, dumped 50,867 shares, or 73% of his stake, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

While they recorded sizable gains--they sold at prices ranging from about $41.19 to $43.25 a share--they could have made much more had they sold later. On the day the merger was announced, Homedco’s stock shot up $9 a share to close at $52.25. The stock has continued to rise and closed Thursday at a record high of $56.375 in Nasdaq trading.

Suki Shadduck, a Homedco spokeswoman, said merger talks between the companies were on and off for a year until final meetings between executives in mid-February led to the announcement.

Jones was involved in the final talks, but Schyving wasn’t, she said. Neither executive would comment.