Private equity firms acquire athenahealth in $17-billion takeout

Cloud-based healthtech group athenahealth on Monday announced a definitive agreement to be jointly acquired by affiliates of Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman for $17 billion. The purchase from Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

The current management team along with CEO Bob Segert will continue to run athenahealth, which provides cloud-based electronic medical record and physician practice solutions in the US. Segert called the deal "a significant milestone for athenahealth…to drive the next phase of our growth journey."

According to the company, it partners with more than 140,000 ambulatory care providers in all 50 states and across more than 120 specialties. It added that its athenaOne cloud platform comprises modules spanning patient engagement, revenue cycle, telehealth, payments, population health and value-based care management "by combining powerful SaaS technology with…data-driven insights that come from the country's largest single connected network."

The news follows a report in September that Veritas and Elliott were considering a sale or initial public offering for athenahealth targeting a valuation of more than $20 billion. Under the acquisition agreement, Veritas and Elliott will each retain a minority investment in athenahealth. No other financial terms were given.

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