athenahealth, Inc., today announced private equity firms Veritas Capital and Evergreen, the private equity subsidiary of Elliott Management will acquire athenahealth for approximately $5.7 billion in cash ($135 per share). The acquisition comes months after Elliot Management made an unsolicited bid to acquire the company for $6.5B.
Financial Details
Under the terms of the agreement, athenahealth shareholders will receive $135 in cash per share. The per share purchase price represents a premium of approximately 12 percent over the company’s closing stock price on November 9, 2018, the last trading day prior to today’s announcement, and a premium of approximately 27 percent over the company’s closing stock price on May 17, 2017,the day prior to Elliott Management Corporation’s announcement that it had acquired an approximate 9% interest in the company.
Future Plans for atehenahealth
Veritas and Evergreen plan to combine athenahealth with Virence Health (“Virence”), the GE Healthcare Value-based Care assets that Veritas acquired earlier this year. The combined business will operate under the athenahealth brand and headquartered in Watertown, MA, led by Virence Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Segert and an executive leadership team comprised of executives from both companies.
Once the acquisition is closed, Virence’s Workforce Management business will become a separate Veritas portfolio company under the API Healthcare brand. Elliott’s private equity subsidiary, Evergreen Coast Capital, will retain a minority investment stake in the combined company.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, subject to the approval of the holders of a majority of athenahealth’s outstanding shares and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The athenahealth Board of Directors has unanimously approved the merger agreement and intends to recommend that athenahealth shareholders vote in favor of it at a Special Meeting of Stockholders.
“We are excited by the opportunity to partner with athenahealth, one of the largest and most connected provider networks in the nation, to drive outcomes that matter the most to our customers,” said Bob Segert, Chairman and CEO of Virence. “athenahealth and Virence have complementary portfolios and highly-talented people, and this combination expands our depth and reach across the continuum of care. I’m looking forward to combining our mission-driven cultures to create an even stronger healthcare IT company.”
