Private equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman acquired Athenahealth, an electronic health records vendor for physician practices, for $17 billion.
Why it matters: This is one of the largest leveraged buyouts of the year, and it means the previous private equity firms that took Athenahealth private in 2018 — Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital, a subsidiary of Elliott Management— tripled their investment.
By the numbers: Athenahealth is now almost as valuable as Cerner, the dominant hospital electronic health records vendor that has a market cap of $21.6 billion.
The big picture: Private equity firms have flocked more into health care over the years, especially in 2021.
- Some of the other major, most recent PE-backed deals involve medical supplier Medline, hospital chains LifePoint and Kindred, outsourcing firm QHR Health and a new mental health provider called Geode Health.