1 big thing: Aquiline's Aspirion in play

Aquiline Capital Partners is exploring strategic options for Aspirion, which offers complex revenue cycle solutions for hospitals, multiple sources tell Sarah.

Driving the news: The Columbus, Georgia-based business received first-round bids last week in a Baird-run process, sources say.

• Two of the sources say the projected run-rate EBITDA for 2022 is $34 million, adding that an 18x multiple was needed to advance into the process’s second round. (If bidders underwrite that figure, that implies a value target of at least some $600 million.)
• One source characterized the process as targeting a partial recap, with Aquiline considering rolling a near 50% stake.

How it works: Aspirion helps health care providers recover lost claims revenue, providing real-time visibility into performance via its recently launched business intelligence platform.

• Complex claims are collected from denials, aging accounts receivable, motor vehicle accidents, workers’ compensation, Veterans Affairs/TRICARE, and out-of-state Medicaid and Medicare eligibility.
• Aspirion has clients in 45 states and growing, and, as one source notes, customers tend to be sticky.

Flashback: Aquiline acquired Aspirion in May 2018.

• The company has inked five acquisitions since, most recently closing its deal for Franklin, Tennessee-based ARx in March.

State of play: Deal flow has remained steady this year across the broader revenue cycle management sphere.

• In April, GrowthCurve Capital made a controlling investment in Revecore that values the hospital RCM company in the low $500 million range, sources familiar with deal terms told Axios.
• In March, Berkshire Partners and Warburg Pincus made a significant investment in Ensemble Health Partners, valuing the RCM company at more than $5 billion, sources told Sarah.
• In January, R1 RCM made a transformative bet on New Mountain Capital's Cloudmed in an all-stock transaction valuing the latter at $4.1 billion.
• Others deals potentially brewing including Coronis Health and 3M's (NYSE: MMM) Health Information Systems.

Aquiline and Baird declined to comment.