Healthcare IT provider Emdeon Inc announced today it is being taken private for $3 billion by private equity firm Blackstone, according to a press release reported by Vidya L. Nathan and posted at news.yahoo.com.
Emdeon provides revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions, connecting payers, providers and patients in the U.S. healthcare system, by integrating and automating business and administrative functions.
According to Rosemarie Nelson at medpagetoday.com, revenue cycle management means “taking steps to assure that you get paid for what you do and that you get paid in a timely fashion.”
Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm.
The deal, which will pay shareholders $19.00 per Emdeon share, “represents a 17 percent premium to Emdeon's Wednesday close of $16.25 on the New York Stock Exchange,” the press release reads.
The press release noted that shares of the Nashville, Tennessee-based company, rose 14 percent to $18.57, just slightly less than Blackstone's offer on Thursday morning.
Blackstone's offer, which was approved by Emdeon's board, will be backed up by “committed financing from Banc of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Citigroup,” according to the press release.
Two of Emdeon's largest stockholders -- General Atlantic and Hellman & Friedman -- have approved the deal. Together, these stockholders own about 70 percent of Emdeon's outstanding shares.
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
