Huron buys Stockamp & Associates for $219 million

(Reuters) - Huron Consulting Group Inc (HURN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said it bought management consulting firm Stockamp & Associates Inc for about $219 million in a cash and stock deal to expand its footprint in the hospital consulting space.

"In particular, academic medical centers will be a major target of our new combined health and education consulting business," Huron Chief Executive Gary Holdren said in a statement.

The Chicago-based financial consulting services firm said it bought Stockamp for $169 million in cash and $50 million in stock.

Huron said it borrowed $164 million under an amended credit agreement to fund the acquisition of Stockamp.

The company expects the deal to reduce its earnings per share in 2008 and add to earnings in 2009.

Stockamp, which helps hospitals and health systems improve financial and operational performance, had cash basis revenue of about $94 million in the 12 months ended March 31, Huron said.

Shares of Huron closed up about 6 percent at $47.48 Tuesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)