TETERBORO, N.J., June 20 /PRNewswire/ --
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) announced today that its public
offering of $550 million of senior notes has been priced in two tranches:
$275 million 6-3/4% senior notes due 2006, and $275 million 7-1/2% senior
notes due 2011. The size of this offering was increased from the $500 million
originally announced. The offering is part of an overall plan to refinance a
majority of the company's existing indebtedness to reduce overall interest
costs. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Credit Suisse First Boston served as lead
underwriters for the offering.
Quest Diagnostics is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing,
information and services with annual revenues of $3.4 billion in 2000. The
Company's diagnostic testing yields information that enables health care
professionals and consumers to make better decisions to improve health. Quest
Diagnostics offers patients and physicians the broadest access to diagnostic
testing services through its national network of approximately 30 full-service
laboratories, 150 rapid response laboratories and more than 1,300 patient
service centers, where specimens are collected. Quest Diagnostics is the
leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based testing, and is the
leader in routine medical testing, drugs of abuse testing, and anatomic
pathology testing. Through partnerships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology
and information technology companies, Quest Diagnostics provides support to
help speed the development of health care insights and new therapeutics.
Additional Company information can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.questdiagnostics.com.
The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or
information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be
materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described
in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 2000 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
SOURCE Quest Diagnostics
CONTACT: Investors - Cathy Doherty, 201-393-5030, or Media - Gary
Samuels, 201-393-5700 both for Quest Diagnostics/