Vestar Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has acquired the independent healthcare ratings firm HealthGrades for approximately $294 million.
HealthGrades provides quality ratings, profiles and cost information on U.S. hospitals, physicians, nursing homes and prescription drugs. Many of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals use HealthGrades’ quality ratings, advisory services and decision-support resources.
Vestar and HealthGrades have entered a definitive agreement through which an affiliate of Vestar will acquire all of the outstanding shares of HealthGrades for $8.20 per share. This represents a premium of approximately 32 percent over HealthGrades’ 30-day average closing stock price.
“We believe the acquisition price ... represents a strong return for our stockholders and is a great confirmation of all of the efforts of our management team and all of our employees,” said Kerry Hicks, chairman and CEO of HealthGrades.
According to Vestar, the aggregate purchase price for the equity of HealthGrades is approximately $294 million, which consists of 35.9 million shares, inclusive of all shares of common stock outstanding, securities convertible into common stock and shares of common stock issuable pursuant to a noncompete agreement with an executive officer.
The Vestar affiliate will commence an all-cash tender offer no later than Aug. 10.
Vestar specializes in management buyouts and growth capital investments with $7 billion in assets under management. The firm targets companies in the United States and Europe with valuations of $250 million to $3 billion.