Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH) announced its plans to acquire Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories LLC from Providence Health & Services and Catholic Health Initiatives. The companies expect the deal to be finalized by the early next year as the proceedings are likely to be initiated this year.

Laboratory Corp. of America will also acquire the company’s interest in Colorado Laboratory Services; Kentucky Laboratory Services; MountainStar Clinical Laboratories; PACLAB Network Laboratories; and Tri-Cities Laboratory (TCL). The acquisition will not lead to any “changes to operations or services at PAML or the joint ventures until the applicable transaction is complete.”

The company stock touched its 52 weeks high of $143.14 in its previous trading session on Friday. The stock is currently 11 percent up on year to date basis while its 12-months gain stands at 28 percent. The company had recently announced its fourth quarter earnings, beating expectations. Its revenue for the quarter stood at $2.39 billion, up 6.3% from the year-ago 4Q revenue of $2.24 billion. It surpassed consensus estimate of $2.35 billion in revenue.

The company’s fourth quarter earnings came in at $184.4 million, compared to $110 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Its diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose 63.6% to $1.75 for the quarter, compared to $1.07 for the same quarter of 2015.