Parent Firm Lags on Sale of Aurora, Colo.-Based Ambulance Service Company.

Byline: Marsha Austin

Sep. 5--Canadian transportation giant Laidlaw Inc., the financially struggling parent of Aurora-based American Medical Response, has yet to nail down a buyer for the ambulance service company, although it wanted to finalize a sale by last Thursday, the end of its fiscal year.

"We didn't make the 31st but that is just a matter of events beyond our control," said T.A.G. Watson, Laidlaw spokesman. "It's been quite a year in health care."

Several former AMR managers, along with a former CEO of Rural Metro Corp. -- AMR's chief competitor in the for-profit emergency medical services industry -- have made a $500 million bid for the company, said Mike Williams, president …