QuatraMed Corp., the listed, Virginia-based healthcare information services firm, will be sold to Francisco Partners, the technology-centric PE fund.

QuadraMed’s directors, executive officers and affiliates, controlling more than 8% of the company, have already signaled they will vote for the transaction; the company’s special committee has unanimously recommended the merger.

It is expected the deal will close shortly after QuadraMed’s annual shareholder in the first quarter of 2010. Calls seeking comment were not acknowledged by press time.

The $126 million all-cash deal will have Francisco paying about $8.50 per share in cash and all of the outstanding shares of QuadraMed’s Series A Cumulative Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock for $13.7097 per share in cash.

The deal comes after the company reported third quarter results that were off 7% and, this summer, replaced chief executive Keith Hagen with director James Peebles, who serves as interim president and CEO.

Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as financial advisor and delivered a fairness opinion to the special committee and to the board of directors. Wells Fargo Foothill and Silicon Valley Bank have committed to provide debt financing for the transaction. Crowell & Moring acted as legal advisor to QuadraMed; William Blair served as financial advisor and Shearman & Sterling acted as legal advisor to Francisco Partners.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by San Francisco-based mergers & acquisitions partners Michael Dorf and Michael Kennedy and included partners Laurence Crouch, Tina Patel and Beau Buffier.

In December 2008, Francisco Partners agreed, along with Sequoia Capital Israel, to buy healthcare tech company Dmatek for about $77.6 million. Other Francisco Partners investments in the healthcare IT industry include API Healthcare, AdvancedMD Software, and Healthland.

PE firms have pursued healthcare deals as 2009’s M&A scene has been characterized by an ongoing interest in healthcare, despite pessimists’ concerns about what the coming Obama administration’s regulatory changes to the industry will do to buyer’s interest. In September, Cortec Group bought a majority stake in 180 Medical Inc.

Also, Harris Corp., the listed, Florida-based communications and information technology company, bought privately-held Patriot Technologies, a provider to healthcare information technology services for government clients.