Viemed Completes Acquisition of Lehan's Medical Equipment

  Anticipates Updating its Full Year 2025 Outlook for the Acquisition with Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Viemed Healthcare, Inc. (the "Company" or "Viemed") (NASDAQ: VMD), an in-home clinical care provider of post-acute respiratory healthcare equipment and services in the United States, announced that it has completed the previously disclosed acquisition of Illinois-based Lehan's Medical Equipment ("Lehan") for a base purchase price of $26 million, subject to customary adjustments, plus estimated contingent payments of $2.2 million.

"We are pleased to close the acquisition of Lehan and bring this talented and highly motivated team into the Viemed family," said Viemed Chief Executive Officer Casey Hoyt. "Lehan's 80-year track record and brand recognition in a large and fast-growing market along with its preferred contracts and fulfillment expertise make for a powerful combination with our national scale, unique care delivery model and existing payer relationships to serve a broader patient population."

In 2024, Lehan generated net revenues of approximately $25.7 million and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $7.4 million. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for a discussion of Adjusted EBITDA. Viemed funded the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings from its existing credit facilities. Viemed anticipates increasing its previously issued full-year 2025 guidance range to account for the expected contribution from this acquisition when it reports earnings results for the quarter ended June 30, 2025.

Lehan's Medical Equipment is a healthcare provider offering home medical equipment and products for women's health, including breast pumps. The organization specializes in promoting wellness through a variety of healthcare services. Lehan also provides rental, sales, and resupply of CPAPs and other respiratory devices, as well as sales of other medical equipment. Lehan currently has three full-service locations in the Northern Illinois area and three sleep/CPAP set up locations in the West Chicagoland area, including one in Wisconsin.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/accesswire/1044828msn/viemed-completes-acquisition-of-lehans-medical-equipment-anticipates-updating-its-full-year-2025-outlook-for-the-acquisition-with-second-quarter-2025-financial-results

Astrana Health closes deal with Prospect Health at a lower price

 

• Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) announced on Wednesday that it has completed the acquisition of Prospect Health, with a deal price of $708M, down from the previously stated $745M.
• In light of the anticipated contributions from Prospect over the next six months, Astrana is revising its revenue projections for the full year 2025.
• The company now expects total revenue to fall between $3.1B and $3.3B, with adjusted EBITDA anticipated to range from $215M to $225M.
• Astrana said it is reaffirming its guidance for the second quarter of 2025.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/astrana-health-closes-deal-with-prospect-health-at-a-lower-price/ar-AA1HPJgP

UK FCA Says Bullying, Harassment Are Workplace Misconduct

 

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has clarified that serious bullying, harassment and violence in the work place qualify as misconduct at financial firms, behavior that could ultimately lead to a ban from the sector.

City firms reported a 72% surge in non-financial misconduct claims over the three years to October. That survey followed several high profile scandals, including sexual assault allegations made against hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and ex-Barclays Plc’s boss Jes Staley’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-02/fca-says-bullying-and-harassment-count-as-workplace-misconduct

NYC driving school rigged driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants — even if they couldn’t drive: DA

 A Big Apple driving school paid off DMV examiners to fraudulently fast-track driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants — even if they had no clue how to drive, Staten Island prosecutors said Tuesday.

T&E Driving School in Queens took cash from Chinese immigrants — many of whom didn’t even speak English — and paid off a crew of Department of Motor Vehicles employees on Staten Island to illegally obtain driver’s licenses, District Attorney Michael McMahon said at a press conference.

The crackdown, dubbed Operation Road Test, took down the ring in a joint investigation with state investigators and the US Department of Homeland Security, prosecutors said.

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Staten Island prosecutors said a Queens driving school ran a DMV pay-to-drive scam for illegal immigrants.Michael McWeeney

“Our investigation found that T&E Driving School blatantly flouted the laws and procedures that are necessary to ensure the public safety on the road,” George Ioannidis, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New York said Tuesday.

“As alleged T&E utilized social media and strategic advertising to Target exploited members of the Chinese community and guaranteed individual driver’s licenses regardless of their immigration status, language, and even their ability to operate a vehicle,” he said.

“Moreover these individuals were those who did not speak or understand English and may have believed that they all were taking necessary and legitimate steps.”

T&E owner Weixian Tan, secretary Weiwen Tan, employee Winnie Yang and school road test driver Wenfeng Yang set up the scam by paying off DMV examiners Aji Idicula, Tianna Rose Andolina and Edward Tarik Queen, according to the indictment.

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Staten Island DA Michael McMahon said the T&E driving school ran a DMV fraud scam for illegal immigrants.James Messerschmidt

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Wenfend Yang and three other employees of T&E Driving School are charged with an illegal immigrant DMV scam.Michael McWeeney

The examiners would then rubber stamp the wanna-be drivers without even having them take a road test.

McMahon said the scam extends beyond the seven named indictments, with two dozen suspects in custody and another indicted DMV employee not identified in the 49-page document.

“The numbers, as we go through this investigation, as we go through the materials that have been seized, we think that we are going to find hundreds if not thousands of people that have been part of this scam,” the prosecutor said.

“The number of tests given by an individual examiner can be about 1,500 a year,” he said. “Two out of the three examiners have been working for four or five years, so we think this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

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Staten Island prosecutors said DMV examiners took illegal payoffs to issue fraudulent licenses to immigrants.Getty Images

In a statement, McMahon called the pay-to-drive scheme a “corrosively corrupt” operation centered on DMV workers who “brazenly betrayed their oaths of office.”

The defendants were arraigned on a slew of fraud, tampering and theft charges and were released — the charges are not eligible for bail under the state’s controversial 2019 criminal justice reforms.

However, they were ordered to surrender their passports.

https://nypost.com/2025/07/01/us-news/nyc-driving-school-rigged-drivers-licenses-for-illegal-immigrants-even-if-they-couldnt-drive-da/

US charges two Chinese nationals with attempting to recruit US service members

 Two Chinese nationals face serious charges after they allegedly acted as agents of the People's Republic of China’s government to collect intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, while also recruiting other military members to carry out tasks for the country’s main foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Chinese national Yuance Chen, who resides in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren Lai, who traveled to Houston on a tourist visa in April 2025, were arrested on Friday. Both individuals face charges of overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence tasks in the U.S. on behalf of the Ministry of State Security.

Along with assisting with the recruitment of potential MSS assets and gathering intel about service members and bases, the two men are accused of facilitating a "dead drop" payment of cash on behalf of the MSS.

The FBI arrested both men on Friday – Chen was arrested in Happy Valley while Lai was arrested in Houston – with help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

"Today’s arrests reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national security and safeguarding the integrity of our military," FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital. "The individuals charged were acting on behalf of a hostile foreign intelligence service — part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader effort to infiltrate and undermine our institutions. Thanks to outstanding coordination with our partners, including NCIS, we disrupted those efforts and sent a clear message: the United States will not tolerate espionage on American soil. Our counterintelligence operations remain focused, vigilant, and relentless."

Citing a criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of California, the DOJ said the government of the PRC conducts intelligence activities against the U.S. using various means, including the MSS, which is involved with collecting intelligence on civilians. The MSS is also responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence and political security.

The complaint alleges that Lai recruited Chen to work for the MSS in 2021.

The two men were in Guangzhou, China in January 2022, when they allegedly collaborated to facilitate a dead-drop payment of at least $10,000 on behalf of the MSS. The operation involved working with others in the U.S. to leave a backpack with the cash at a day-use locker in Livermore, California.

Lai and Chen continued working on behalf of the MSS after the cash drop payment and helped with identifying Navy individuals who might be willing to work on behalf of the MSS as well.

The DOJ said in 2022 and 2023, the two visited a U.S. Naval installation in Washington State as well as a Navy recruitment center in San Gabriel, California.

While at the recruitment center, Chen allegedly took photos of a bulletin board that contained the names, programs and hometowns of Navy recruits. The majority of those listed on the board noted that their hometown was "China," and the photos appeared to be transmitted to an MSS intelligence officer in China, the DOJ claimed.

The DOJ also alleged that the MSS gave Chen instructions on what to say to potential recruits when it came to payment that could be made by the MSS, preferred Naval job assignments for potential recruits and methods to minimize Chen’s risk of being exposed.

Chen ultimately began to communicate with a member of the Navy on social media, the DOJ alleges, and arranged for a tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego with the employee. Chen also sent information about the employee to the MSS, the complaint said.

In April 2024 and March 2025, Chen traveled to Guangzhou where he met with MSS intelligence officers, the complaint alleged, to discuss pay for specific tasks.

Lai also allegedly traveled to Houston in April 2025 and claimed the purpose of the visit was related to his business as an online retailer. He also claimed he would be staying in Houston for two weeks.

But on May 9, 2025, which was more than four weeks after he arrived in the U.S., Lai was seen traveling in a car with a companion from Houston to California, and back to Junction, Texas, on May 15.

Chen and Lai have been charged with operating in the U.S. as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general. If convicted, both men face a fine of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years behind bars.

"Adverse foreign intelligence services like the PRC’s Ministry of State Security dedicate years to recruiting individuals and cultivating them as intelligence assets to do their bidding within the United States," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. "Under my leadership, the National Security Division will continue to defend our nation and neutralize our adversaries’ clandestine spy networks."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/two-chinese-nationals-arrested-spying-us-navy-personnel-bases

AI's next explosive frontier for investors, according to BlackRock

 Software stocks look compelling as companies make it easier for consumers and businesses to take advantage of AI

Stocks driving the artificial-intelligence race have made a comeback. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF MAGS moved back into positive territory last week after recovering everything it lost this year. But as investors pile back into the big names, they may be missing out on where the real strides in AI are expected to take place next, which is in software stocks.

According to BlackRock's Tony Kim, head of fundamental equities for the global technology team, the next big stage in AI's development will be the exploding use cases that come from the software industry, which is expected to permeate every sector of society. Simply put, software companies are building the bridge between AI and its deployment by businesses and everyday people.

This year, MarketWatch interviewed Kim as he was wrapping up BlackRock's annual tech tour that lasted five days and included meetings with about 25 technology companies across Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Kim's overall insight as he reflected on the week is that the development of AI is powering full steam ahead. Despite concerns over the domestic economy, geopolitical tensions, or the development of cheaper AI models like the one that came from DeepSeek, there has been no abatement on the part of U.S. companies developing AI, he said. And the software companies that are deploying AI are well-positioned to be the next beneficiaries of that expansion.

As for investors worried about whether there will be enough demand for AI to justify the optimism that has driven up Nvidia Corp.'s (NVDA) stock, or the hefty capital expenditures hyperscalers are committing to develop AI infrastructure, Kim's simple response is to look around and ask some very basic questions, such as whether AI has transformed all the areas and sectors it can. In other words, does everyone have an AI assistant helping them in their daily lives? Are employees across companies now fully using AI agents in their workflows? And is physical AI in the form of autonomous vehicles and robotics operating at full scale? The answer to all of those questions is no, he said, meaning that AI is just getting started.

Furthermore, he added that AI's capabilities are improving rapidly, suggesting that there will be more use cases and efficiencies that have yet to be discovered. Over time, the costs to develop and run AI are expected to decrease.

As for Nvidia, the company sits at the absolute epicenter of AI's development, especially because there will be a big need for AI factories both domestically and globally to power all these applications, Kim said. During Nvidia's fiscal first-quarter earnings call, Chief Executive Jensen Huang said that one of the main growth areas for the company was the need for AI factories, which create and deploy AI. Huang added that demand is helping cushion revenue losses from China following the U.S. government's export restrictions on its H20 product.

And while Kim was positive about Nvidia's prospects, he was even more excited about the opportunities that could be found in the software sector, as those companies integrate AI into their products.

The case for software stocks in the era of AI development

Within the software sector, there are two main categories - enterprise and consumer-facing applications - and investors should pay attention to both, Kim noted. Consumer-facing providers include tax-software provider Intuit Inc. (INTU) and language educator Duolingo Inc. (DUOL). Enterprise-based software companies include Salesforce Inc. (CRM), which provides customer-relationship-management offerings, and Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), which makes design technology.

According to BlackRock's fundamental equities technology team, there are a few key reasons to focus on software companies at this early stage in the AI boom. For one, these companies have an opportunity to increase their competitive advantage as they acquire or build proprietary AI systems and maintain unique data sets. In other words, companies can differentiate from rivals by building unique AI systems using data they have.

The software sector is also ripe with emerging AI technologies that can serve every industry. At the center of booming AI demand will be agentic AI, which can make decisions and take action. These tools can be built to manage and improve inventory, help developers code, assist doctors with patient care and even help design architecture.

Additionally, software companies can more easily keep up with the AI boom because they can rapidly scale to meet demand, since most rely on central cloud storage rather than expensive hardware. This also means they can grow customer bases without big increases to their operating costs. For this reason, software companies tend to have higher profit margins, with the median subscription profit margin being about 80%, according to BlackRock's fundamental equities technology team.

Software companies also tend to have recurring revenue because most of them run subscription-based businesses where payments are made monthly or annually. This reduces investment risk because there's more predictability when forecasting the company's future cash flows. Furthermore, software companies that operate in niche industries and deploy AI-enhanced solutions are even better investments because it's more difficult for their customers to switch to a different provider, since it's expensive to change a company's entire system, according to BlackRock's fundamental equities technology team. Therefore, these software companies tend to see less customer turnover, making their future cash flows even more predictable.

Overall, investors should focus on companies that show sustainable growth and strong unit economics, meaning that each product or service sold has a good profit margin.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20250701426/heres-ais-next-explosive-frontier-for-investors-according-to-blackrock

'Productivity Gains From Using AI'

 As AI tools become increasingly integrated—and in some cases, even mandated—into professional workflows, their real-world impact on productivity is becoming more evident.

This chart, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, compares the average time it takes U.S. adults to complete 18 common work tasks with and without the use of generative AI, based on a December 2024 survey of 4,278 respondents conducted by Stanford University and the World Bank.

Generative AI Improves Productivity by Over 60%

Across all tasks, using generative AI reduced the average time taken to complete them by more than 60%.

Here’s how much time using generative AI saved across 18 common work tasks, in average number of minutes:

Task	Time With GenAI (avg. minutes)	Time Without GenAI (avg. minutes)	Time Reduction
Writing	25	80	-69%
Active Learning	26	76	-66%
Critical Thinking	27	102	-74%
Troubleshooting	28	115	-76%
Judgement and Decision Making	28	79	-65%
Management of Material Resources	28	92	-70%
Mathematics	29	108	-73%
Time Management	29	77	-62%
Complex Problem Solving	30	122	-75%
Instructing	31	93	-67%
Operations Analysis	31	98	-68%
Systems Analysis	31	87	-64%
Managament of Personnel	32	103	-69%
Programming	33	129	-74%
Equipment Maintenance	34	124	-73%
Quality Control Analysis	36	103	-65%
Management of Finances	38	106	-64%
Technology Design	39	142	-73%

Some of the largest gains came from highly technical or analytical tasks. For example, troubleshooting saw a 76% reduction in time, while critical thinking, programming, and technology design all showed over 70% time savings with generative AI.

Interestingly, even human-centric tasks—such as instructing, judgment and decision-making, and management of personnel—benefited from AI tools, with time reductions ranging from 60–70%.

Accelerating Work With AI

While AI is often framed as a replacement for human labor, this data shows that human workers empowered by AI can do the same tasks far more efficiently.

Writing, for example, dropped from an average of 80 minutes to just 25 minutes with generative AI. For complex cognitive functions like mathematics, systems analysis, and operations, AI reduced the time taken to complete tasks by over an hour.

Furthermore, AI adoption is increasing rapidly. According to the survey, LLM adoption at work for respondents aged 18 or older increased from 30% in December 2024 to over 43% as of March/April 2025.

If this trajectory continues, AI-driven productivity gains could scale from individual tasks to entire organizations, and potentially reshaping broader economic outcomes.

AI is transforming how we work and live online, but which companies are leading this new era of technology? Find out in this infographic on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/productivity-gains-using-ai