Corizon, the prison health services provider formed last year through the merger of Brentwood-based America Service Group and St. Louis' Correctional Medical Services, has signed a contract with a New Jersey laboratory testing company. The one-year, $18 million deal builds on the relationship Bio-Reference Laboratories already had with the companies that formed Corizon.

The merger of America Service Group and St. Louis-based Valitas Health has been completed and the combined organization has rebranded itself of Corizon. The company's website says name "brings together our field of service – Correctional Healthcare – and our company’s vision to always look to the future, to the horizon."

SEE ALSO: Our coverage of the $250 million merger

Prison health firm America Service Group said today its shareholders voted to approve the company's acquisition by St. Louis-based rival Valitás Health Services. The transaction is expected to close on Friday.

Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins has dismissed the lawsuit filed by an America Service Group shareholder that sought to block or rescind the merger of the company with St. Louis-based Valitas Health. Colleen Witmer had filed her putative class action the day after America Service announced its $250 million deal, claiming its directors had breached their fiduciary duties.

The Federal Trade Commission today cleared two local health care deals from antitrust concerns. In an announcement today, the regulatory body granted early termination of its review of AmSurg Corp.'s $174 million acquisition of Texas-based National Surgical Care and Valitas Health Services' deal to buy America Service Group for $250 million. (HT Modern Healthcare.)

Despite receiving some interest from at least one potential bidder, America Service Group today said its window to find a better offer than that of Valitas Health Services has closed. The two companies will now move forward with their $250 million merger plans.