Zila, a publicly traded manufacturer of medical devices used to detect and treat oral cancer and periodontal disease, is being sold to a privately held company in Colorado for $4 million in cash and the assumption debt. Tolmar Holding Inc. will buy Zila's outstanding stock for 38 cents per share and assume the company's $12 million debt.

Zila's shareholders are expected to approve the merger by late August. The company has struggled recently with falling revenue. It recorded a net loss of more than $25 million for the second quarter in 2009. In March, Zila warned it could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and said it faced delisting from the Nasdaq.

According to the Arizona Republic, the deal would make Zila the 10th public company to leave Arizona since 2008. That would leave 44 publicly held companies based in the state, a measure of the breadth and sophistication of the business community.

John Laub is the Chairman of the Phoenix CEO-CFO Group.

1. "Colo. Firm Plans to Buy Zila for $4 Mil. Medical-Device Maker Had Warned of Ch. 11." Parker Leavitt. The Arizona Republic. June 27, 2009.

2. "Zila Enters into Merger Agreement with Tolmar." Company Press Release. Business Wire. June 25, 2009.