Athenahealth bought by private equity firms Hellman & Friedman, Bain Capital

Cloud computing seller athenahealth introduced Monday that it would be jointly obtained by affiliates of Bain Money and Hellman & Friedman for $17 billion.

The enterprise, which presents digital health record and medical doctor apply resources, stated the financial commitment was predicted to be completed in the to start with quarter of 2022.  

Chair and CEO Bob Segert will proceed in his placement, stated athenahealth in a push release, as will the recent management group.  

“Our workforce, customers and companions are the resource of our results and inspiration as we produce a flourishing ecosystem that delivers obtainable, significant-quality and sustainable health care for all,” stated Segert in a statement.  

WHY IT Matters

Athenahealth, which was obtained by personal fairness corporations Veritas Money and Evergreen Coast Money in 2019 for $five.7 billion, states it now companions with extra than a hundred and forty,000 ambulatory care providers in all fifty states and throughout extra than a hundred and twenty specialties.  

In 2020, athenahealth introduced a new EHR-embedded telehealth resource. According to Jessica Sweeney-Platt, vice president of analysis and editorial technique, the enterprise has provided eighteen.four million digital appointments around the previous year.  

“Nowadays marks a substantial milestone for athenahealth and our partnership with Veritas Money and Evergreen Coast Money, and we are thrilled to perform with Hellman & Friedman and Bain Money to push the up coming section of our advancement journey,” stated Segert.  

But the seller has also confronted hurdles.   

Before that acquisition – which provided a merger with Virence Well being, also owned by Veritas – the enterprise experienced confronted challenges, together with an activist trader marketing campaign from Elliott Management the stepdown of founder and previous CEO Jonathan Bush amid allegations of sexual harassment and domestic abuse and layoffs of 9% of the workforce.    

And this January, the U.S. Office of Justice introduced that the enterprise agreed to shell out $eighteen.twenty five million to take care of Bogus Claims Act violation allegations. A spokesperson for the enterprise stated it admitted no wrongdoing beneath the settlement.  

Nevertheless, the company’s new proprietors voiced optimism for its upcoming advancement.  

“Supplied our deep working experience in software and health care, we are psyched to perform with Bob and the govt group to fast scale the organization and proceed to innovate and develop together with our most disruptive and impressive ambulatory care clientele to construct the foundations of a multi-sided electronic care network involving client, payer and supplier,” Allen Thorpe, spouse at Hellman & Friedman, stated in a statement.  

THE Bigger Pattern  

November has witnessed numerous huge revenue moves in the health IT room, with software-as-a-assistance enterprise EverCommerce asserting its new ownership of EHR vendor DrChrono and the freshly introduced FemTec Well being buying magnificence box enterprise Birchbox and social advertising and marketing platform Liquid Grids.

Meanwhile, GE stated it would spin off its health care division, GE Health care, in early 2023. Virence Well being, which merged with athenahealth, was when GE Healthcare’s benefit-dependent care arm.  

ON THE History  

“About the study course of our successful partnership with Bob and the management group, athenahealth has driven large advancement and transformation, reinforcing its placement as the premier health care IT enterprise supporting the biggest nationwide network of health care providers,” Ramzi Musallam, CEO and taking care of spouse of Veritas Money, stated in a statement.  

“Adhering to our acquire-personal and blend with Virence in 2019, athenahealth shipped unmatched benefit to its shoppers by substantially rising R&D financial commitment resulting in bigger high quality care, lower costs throughout the health care ecosystem and in general enhanced client results,” he stated.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Health care IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: [email protected]
Health care IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.