Veritas Capital picks up trio of healthcare IT lines from GE

Private equity firm Veritas Capital is acquiring General Electric’s (NYSE: GE) value-based healthcare division for $1.05 billion. The line of business, which consists of three information technology businesses, will operate as a standalone business under Veritas and grow through acquisitions.

“Our team has significant knowledge and expertise in the healthcare IT space,” says Jon Zimmerman, general manager of the GE division. “With Veritas’ support and resources, we are excited to continue deepening our commitment and capabilities to help healthcare providers manage their financial, clinical, and employee workflows across the continuum of care.”

New York-based Veritas reports that it will work with the GE management team as the carved-out division transitions to a standalone company. The three businesses within the division focus on enterprise financial management (Revenue-Cycle, Centricity Business), ambulatory care management (Centricity Practice Solution, including electronic medical records management) and workforce management (formerly known as API Healthcare).

“We see a tremendous opportunity to invest in this business and partner with management to take advantage of a $9 billion market that continues to benefit from favorable sector trends, particularly a real and urgent need to digitalize our healthcare system,” says Ramzi Musallam, Veritas CEO. “Similar to our previous healthcare technology investments, all of which have been corporate carve-outs, we will be deeply customer-focused, and invest significantly in people, technology and infrastructure to support the evolving requirements of the company's diverse customer group.”

GE Healthcare, a $19 billion business for GE with more than 50,000 employees, will focus on medical imaging equipment and other businesses. “We’re confident this business will flourish under Veritas Capital, while GE Healthcare will continue to significantly invest in core digital solutions, such as smart diagnostics, connected devices, AI and enterprise imaging, that will drive precision health for our customers,” says Kieran Murphy, CEO of GE Healthcare. “We will continue to lead in data analytics, command centers, advanced visualization and image management tools to create better customer and patient outcomes.”

Healthcare technology has been an area of focus for Veritas, including its investments in Truven Health Analytics Inc. and Verscend Technologies Inc. Truven, provider of cloud-based data management and analytics to hospitals, insurers and government agencies, was sold to IBM (NYSE: IBM) for $2.6 billion in 2016.

Verscend, formerly a Verisk Analytics business, is still a Veritas portfolio company. The healthcare service provider uses data analytics and technology to limit costs and ensure regulatory compliance. The Waltham, Massachusetts, company recently announced it was acquiring the commercial health insurance payer-focused products business of General Dynamics Information Technology to add to its offerings.

Healthcare analytics deals have proliferated recently. Inovalon (Nasdaq: INOV), a provider of cloud-based healthcare software, agreed to acquire Ability Network, a developer of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) administrative and clinical tools, from Summit Partners and other investors for $1.2 billion. R1 RCM Inc. (Nasdaq: RCM) agreed to acquire Intermedix Corp., a data analytics provider to U.S. healthcare providers, for $460 million.

The Veritas-GE deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. GE’s financial advisors on the deal are Morgan Stanley and Keval Health. Veritas has Goldman, Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and William Blair & Co. as financial advisors and Schulte Roth & Zabel as legal counsel for the transaction.