Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings's (LCA) proposed purchase of Dianon Systems Inc. [See Deal], followed by the announcement of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe's bid for AmeriPath Inc. , reflect different paths taken by two fierce competitors. They are also the inevitable consequence of consolidation in laboratory testing at the national level.
Dianon and AmeriPath have both spent the better part of a decade striving to become national providers of anatomic pathology laboratory services, a specialty within the laboratory testing business that focuses on tissue analysis (histology) and cytology (cellular analysis of Pap smears). But they have very divergent business models and their acquirers, likewise, are buying them for different reasons (See "Consolidation in Diagnostics: AmeriPath vs